| Surgical Results of Flexion Distraction Injuries to the Thoracolumbar Spine |
|
Jong Hun Choi, M.D., Yong Jun Cho, M.D., Sung Min Cho M.D. |
|
Department of Neurosurgery, Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University, Chunchon, Korea |
| 흉요추부의 굴곡 박탈 손상에 대한 수술 결과 |
|
최종훈ㆍ조용준ㆍ조성민 |
|
한림대학교 의과대학 춘천성심병원 신경외과학교실 |
|
|
|
|
| Abstract |
Objective: Flexion distraction injuries of the thoracolumbar spine result from a failure of both the posterior and middle columns with lower rate of incidence. We report our eight years' experience of flexion distraction injuries of the thoraco- lumbar spine.
Methods: We reviewed radiographs of 124 cases of the thoracolumbar spine injuries who underwent open reduction and internal fixation from 1998 to 2005. We found 16 cases of flexion distraction injuries of thoracolumbar spine.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 31.1 years. The most common cause of injuries was falling from heights(11 patients). The injury level was mostly thoracolumbar junction. According to the Denis classification, two were type A, three were B, and eleven were C. We performed posterior screws fixation with posterolateral fusion using iliac bone graft in all cases. The mean follow up period was 214 days. The initial kyphotic angulation was 12.2° and it was improved to 1.6° after surgery(p<0.05). The final average improvement of kyphotic angulation was 9.5°. Five patients showed neurol- ogical improvement, over one grade of Frankel classification postoperatively(p<0.05). There was one disseminated intra- vascular coagulopathy due to massive transfusion. No complication related to hardwares was observed.
Conclusion: Flexion distraction injury was 12.9% of total thoracolumbar injuries who underwent open reduction and internal fixation in our hospital. The results of current study suggest that surgicalmanagements for flexion distraction injuries of the thoracolumbar spine can achieve good results. Better results can be expected when the fracture is carefully evalua- ted with magnetic resonance image and computed tomography. |
| Keywords:
Spinal fracturesㆍSeat beltsㆍSurgical results |
|
PDF Links
Full text via DOI
Download Citation
