Human Amniotic Tissue-derived Allograft, NuCel, in Posteriolateral Lumbar Fusions for Degenerative Disc Disease

Exclusion Criteria

• •Smoker (any smoking ≤3 months prior to consent); (Patel et al. 2013)
• •Patients with poorly controlled diabetes mellitus (HgbA1c \> 7%)
• •Documented osteoporosis
• •Prior lumbar spinal surgery at the same spinal level, or immediately adjacent spine level, to the level being operated on
• •Back pain due to infection, tumour, or metabolic bone disease
• •Terminal disease, such as HIV infection, neoplasm
• •Autoimmune disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis
• •Morbid obesity (body mass index (BMI) of 35 kg/m2)
• •Major psychiatric illness in the last year
• •History of alcohol or drug abuse in the last year
• •Pregnant women