Objective To observe the correlation between bone mineral density (BMD) and surgical outcomes of posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) for lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis (DS).Methods From January 2006 to December 2010,69 patients with DS had undergone PLIF by the same surgical team.According the BMD,the cases were divided into two groups.Normal group (T ≥-1.0) had 33 cases [Male 16 cases,Female 17 cases; mean age,(56.5±9.0) yrs; L,,5 20 cases,L5S1 13 cases].The osteopenia group (T ＜-1.0) had 36 cases [Male 13 cases,Female 23 cases; mean age,(60.5±7.8) yrs; L4.5 21 cases,L5S1 15 cases].Blood loss,surgical duration,intra-and post-operative complications were collected.The clinical improvement was quantified by measurement of pain (visual analogue scale,VAS) and Roland-Morris (RM) Disability Questionnaire.Between two groups,the differences of age,body mass index,blood loss,VAS improvement,and RM improvement were compared.The correlation between BMD and sex,age,segment,screw loose,nonunion,and cage subsidence was analyzed.Results In two groups,the difference between pre-and post-operative RM and VAS was significant respectively.The blood loss was 415.5± 105.8 ml in normal group,significantly less than 528.3±128.7 ml in osteopenia group.There was no significant difference in the duration between normal group (169.7±44.3 min) and osteopenia group (176.4±42.6 min).The improvement of VAS and RM between two groups had no significant difference.There was a negative correlation between the BMD and blood loss (r=-0.407,P=0.001).The other surgical outcomes (surgical duration,VAS improvement,RM improvement,cage subsidence,nonunion,screw loose and etc.) had no correlation with BMD.Conclusion There is a negative correlation between the BMD and blood loss in DS patients managed by PLIF.BMD has no effect on other surgical outcomes.