Minimally invasive fusion and fixation techniques.

Instrumented fusion plays an important role in treating a variety of degenerative and traumatic diseases of the spine. Traditional open techniques have been associated with a high degree of approach-related morbidity because of muscle retraction and blood loss. A variety of minimally invasive techniques have been developed for instrumentation of the entire spine. Advances in our understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms for stable bony fusion should promote the use of even less invasive techniques in the future.