From January 1992 to May 1993, we performed a new method of spinal instrumentation, namely the combined instumentation with the soft and rigid stabilizer, to minimize the adverse effects induced by rigid multi-segment fixation and fusion in twenty patients with complex degenerative lumbar disorders. By using this combined method, we were able to preserve one or two more motion segments from the fusion. And we also expect that the rate of deterioration at the adjacent motion segments to the fusion level will decrease. Though the follow-up period is short, the clinical results were satisfactory in 80% of the patients. We think that this combined instrumentation can be a choice of treatment for complex multi-segment lumbar disorders.