In this study we were primarily concerned with two basic questions: Does this procedure result in a higher percentage of successful fusions, as compared with the other established techniques? Do the advantages of this procedure outweigh the disadvantages?
It is difficult to assess accurately the relative merits of this operation on the basis of this rather modest series. If we accept these figures as having some statistical significance, the two basic questions would have to be answered affirmatively, since the results compare favorably with the published series where other techniques were used 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,14 (Table I). In our hands, this procedure has markedly reduced the incidence of pseudarthrosis following attempted spine fusion.