[Progress of anterior lumbar interbody fusion in clinical application].

Anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) has become a standard technique for interbody fusion since it was reported by O'Brien in 1983. Now it is used to treat many degenerative disease,such as lumbar discogenic pain, lumbar instability, lumbar spondylolisthesis and so on. In recent years, ALIF has developed greatly in clinical application. Minimal incision operation and laparoscopic anterior lumbar interbody fusion has been already performed, which made the operation less invasive. Many internal fixation instruments are used to improve the stability of ALIF. Interbody fusion devices were developed and the fusion rates enhanced greatly. At the same time, the complications of ALIF also has been realized. This paper overviews the current progress in the clinical application of ALIF.