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Comparison of biportal endoscopic vs minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion for single-level low-grade lumbar spondylolisthesis: A retrospective cohort study
Peng He, Xiao-Wei Liu, Qiang Gao, Bin Xu, Yu Cong, Wen-Long Zhao, Department of Orthopedics, Jinling Hospital, The Affiliated to Nanjing University, Nanjing 210002, Jiangsu Province, China
Peng He, Xiao-Wei Liu, Yu Cong, Wen-Long Zhao, Department of Orthopedics, Jinling Hospital, The Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210002, Jiangsu Province, China
Jiao Sun, Department of Outpatient, Jinling Hospital, The Affiliated to Nanjing University, Nanjing 210002, Jiangsu Province, China
Jiao Sun, Department of Outpatient, Jinling Hospital, The Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210002, Jiangsu Province, China
Co-first authors: Peng He and Jiao Sun.
Co-corresponding authors: Yu Cong and Wen-Long Zhao.
Author contributions: He P, Sun J, Zhao WL, and Cong Y contributed to the study conception and design; He P and Sun J contributed to conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, methodology, writing and original draft, qualified as the co-first authors of the paper; Zhao WL contributed to methodology, software, validation, writing–review and editing; Xu B, Cong Y contributed to methodology; Liu XW, Cong Y, contributed to project administration; Zhao WL contributed to supervision; Gao Q contributed to software, visualization; Cong Y and Zhao WL played important and indispensable roles in the manuscript preparation as the co-corresponding authors.
AI contribution statement: AI tools were used for language polishing only. The authors assume full responsibility for all scientific content.
Supported by Jinling Hospital, No. 2024JCYJZD077.
Institutional review board statement: This study approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Jinling Hospital (No. 2020DZSKTZX-019). All clinical data were fully de-identified before analysis to protect patient privacy.
Informed consent statement: All clinical data were fully de-identified before analysis to protect patient privacy. The ethics committee approved a waiver of written informed consent owing to the retrospective nature of this study with minimal risk to participants.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The fully de-identified datasets and a data dictionary used in this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, subject to ethical and institutional approval.
Corresponding author: Wen-Long Zhao, Associate Chief Physician, MD, Department of Orthopedics, Jinling Hospital, The Affiliated to Nanjing University, East Zhongshan Road, Xuanwu District, Nanjing 210002, Jiangsu Province, China. valen_0924@163.com
Received: June 23, 2026
Revised: August 14, 2026
Accepted: October 13, 2026
Published online: October 18, 2026
Processing time: 116 Days and 4.6 Hours
Revised: August 14, 2026
Accepted: October 13, 2026
Published online: October 18, 2026
Processing time: 116 Days and 4.6 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This retrospective study compared biportal endoscopic transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (BE-TLIF) and minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion for single-level lumbar spondylolisthesis. Despite longer operative time, BE-TLIF was associated with shorter hospital stay, less early postoperative pain, and lower creatine kinase levels, associations of uncertain clinical significance. At a mean follow-up of over 40 months, fusion rates, functional outcomes, radiographic parameters, and complication rates did not differ significantly between the groups. BE-TLIF is an effective minimally invasive alternative, with no statistically significant between-group differences in mid-term outcomes observed in this cohort.