Letter to the editor regarding "Is minimally invasive superior than open transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion for single-level degenerative lumbar diseases: a meta-analysis".

The author discusses a meta-analysis that examined randomized controlled trials comparing minimally-invasive versus open approaches to transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF). Topics include samples of text that identifies each as a non-randomized study, errors made by the authors in the classification of the included studies, and the association between minimally-invasive TLIF and a shorter hospital stay relative to open TLIF.