{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,7]],"date-time":"2026-08-07T15:23:10Z","timestamp":1786116190366,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"PeerJ","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,6]],"date-time":"2026-08-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785974400000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Lumbar disc disease is one of the most common causes of spinal pain and represents a significant health problem. Surgical treatment often involves interbody stabilization, performed using Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion (PLIF) or Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion (ALIF) methods.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 112 patients (64 women, 48 men) with lumbar disc disease aged 17\u201372 years. Patients underwent PLIF (73 patients, 65.18%) or ALIF (39 patients, 34.82%) procedures. Pain assessment utilized the visual analogue scale (VAS) scale and numerical rating scale (NRS) for specific disc disease symptoms. Quality of life was measured using Cantril\u2019s ladder retrospectively before symptom onset, 3 months post-operation, and prospectively for predicted future (2\u20133 years). Robust linear regression models with interaction analysis were applied.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Significant pain reduction on the VAS scale was found after 3 months (average 6.07 points,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &lt; 0.001). Both procedures demonstrated significant pain reduction at 3 months. Pain outcomes varied by symptom type, with substantial improvements observed in overall pain, spinal pain, limb pain, and numbness across both surgical approaches. Most symptoms showed very high effect sizes (r \u2265 0.97), except for spinal stiffness. Quality of life significantly improved over time (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &lt; 0.001), with higher baseline values after ALIF (0.66 points,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.001). Physical activity improved quality of life, while tobacco smoking increased spinal stiffness.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Both PLIF and ALIF demonstrated substantial reductions in pain complaints and improvements in quality of life in patients with lumbar disc disease in 3-month follow-up. Both PLIF and ALIF demonstrated substantial pain reduction and quality of life improvement in 3-month follow-up. However, definitive recommendations for method selection require long-term studies with patient randomization and longer follow-up periods.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.7717\/peerj.21582","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,6]],"date-time":"2026-08-06T08:41:50Z","timestamp":1786005710000},"page":"e21582","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Analysis of pain intensity and quality of life in patients with lumbar disc disease treated with PLIF (Posterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion) and ALIF (Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion) interbody stabilization methods: a 3-month retrospective analysis"],"prefix":"10.7717","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Kazimiera","family":"Hebel","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Health Sciences, Pomeranian University of Slupsk, Slupsk, Poland"},{"name":"The Faculty of Health Sciences with the Institute of Maritime and Tropical Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sylwia","family":"Ja\u0142tuszewska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Health Sciences, Pomeranian University of Slupsk, Slupsk, Poland"},{"name":"Provincial Specialist Hospital named after Janusz Korczak in Slupsk, Slupsk, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Monika","family":"Dydyna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Provincial Specialist Hospital named after Janusz Korczak in Slupsk, Slupsk, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Katarzyna","family":"Kuba\u0142a","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Provincial Specialist Hospital named after Janusz Korczak in Slupsk, Slupsk, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8186-3232","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Aleksandra","family":"Bryndal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Health Sciences, Pomeranian University of Slupsk, Slupsk, Poland"},{"name":"State Higher School of Vocational Education in Koszalin, Koszalin, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"4443","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,6]]},"reference":[{"issue":"4","key":"10.7717\/peerj.21582\/ref-1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"378","DOI":"10.1177\/2192568217730352","article-title":"Smoking is an independent risk factor of reoperation due to recurrent lumbar disc herniation","volume":"8","author":"Andersen","year":"2018","journal-title":"Global Spine Journal"},{"issue":"2","key":"10.7717\/peerj.21582\/ref-2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e2023D702","DOI":"10.1590\/1806-9282.2023D702","article-title":"Treatment of refractory low back pain due to arthrosis of the lumbar spine with or without spondylolisthesis using anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF)","volume":"70","author":"Anzai","year":"2024","journal-title":"Revista da Associa\u00e7\u00e3o M\u00e9dica Brasileira"},{"issue":"4","key":"10.7717\/peerj.21582\/ref-3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5337483","DOI":"10.1155\/2022\/5337483","article-title":"VAS and NRS, same or different? 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