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Objective To compare and the advantages and disadvantages of 3 methods of bone grafting in the posterior treatment of thoracolumbar burst fracture.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted of 258 thoracolumbar burst fractures treated with posterior short-segment fixation from March 2013 to March 2015 at Orthopedic Department One,Foshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.Of them,87 were treated with transpedicular bone grafting (group A),87 with laminar and intertransverse process bone grafting (group B) and 84 with small joint turnover plus bone grafting (group C).The 3 groups were compared in terms of cobb angle,loss of correction,bony fusion,internal fixation failure,and Oswestry disability index (ODI).Results The 3 groups were comparable due to insignificant differences in the preoperative general data between them (P ＞ 0.05).The cobb angles in the 3 groups at one week after operation (4.9° ± 1.0°,4.8° ± 0.6° and 4.8° ± 0.6°) and at the final follow-up (6.1 o ± 1.5°,14.5° ± 3.7° and 15.3° ± 4.1 °) were significantly smaller than those before operation (27.5° ± 4.9°,27.6° ± 4.6° and 27.6° ± 4.2°) (P ＜ 0.05).The cobb angles in groups B and C at the final follow-up were significantly larger than those at one week after operation (P ＜0.05).At the final follow-up,both the cob angles and the loss of kyphoplasty correction in groups B and C were significantly larger than in group A (P ＜ 0.05).The fusion rate in group A (100％) was significantly larger than in group B (80.5％) and C (76.2％).There were no significant differences between the 3 groups in the rate of internal fixation failure (0,1.1％ and 2.4％) (x2 =2.108,P=0.348).The ODI for the 3 groups at 6 months after operation (28.5 ± 4.1,28.7 ± 3.9 and 28.8 ± 3.7) and at the final follow-up (10.7 ± 2.6,11.0 ± 2.7 and 11.4 ± 3.1) were all significantly lower than the preoperative values (94.3 ± 0.7,94.4 ± 0.9 and 94.4 ± 0.8) (P ＜ 0.001).In all the patients,the ODI at the final follow-up was significantly lower than that at 6 months after operation(P ＜ 0.001).Conclusions In the treatment of thoracolumbar burst fractures,all the posterior approach plus transpedicular bone grafting,posterolateral bone grafting and reversed bone grafting plus short segmental internal fixation can effectively restore vertebral height and result in a high rate of fusion.Although the latter 2 methods of bone grafting are effective,they may be disadvantageous in leading to long-term loss of vertebral height and kyphosis correction.
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BACKGROUND: How to effectively treat recurrent osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures in the elderly over 65 years has become an issue of attention in the clinic. OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the clinical efficacy of percutaneous vertebroplasty with polymethylmethacrylate bone cement for treating elderly recurrent osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures. METHODS:Twenty-four patients with elderly osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures were divided into polymethylmethacrylate bone cement group (minimaly invasive group) and conservative treatment group on a voluntary basis (n=12 per group). Visual analog scale score for low back pain, Oswesty dysfunction index, ratio of the anterior/posterior margin height of the injured vertebra, Cobb angle and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups before and after treatment. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The 12-month folow-up was completed in al the patients. There was one case of bone cement breakage during treatment in the minimaly invasive group and one case of lower limb deep venous thrombosis in the conservative treatment group at 1 month after treatment. Compared with the conservative treatment group, the visual analog scale score, Oswesty dysfunction index, and Cobb angle were significantly lower, but the ratio of the anterior/posterior margin height of the injured vertebra was significantly higher in the minimaly invasive group at 3 days, 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after treatment (P < 0.05). These findings indicate that percutaneous vertebroplasty with polymethylmethacrylate bone cement for elderly recurrent osteoporotic vertebral fractures can strive for short-term pain relief and long-term recovery of the vertebral height and spinal Cobb angle, thereby significantly improving patient’s quality of life.
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<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the inter- and intra-observer reliability of the GATA and SMU classification systems for spinal tuberculosis and assess the clinical value of SMU classification.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One hundred patients with spinal tuberculosis treated in our hospital from January 2004 to December 2011 were randomly selected for analysis, including 54 males and 46 females with a mean age of 45 years (range, 16-68 years). All the patients had X-ray, CT and MRI examinations. Five observers experienced in spinal tuberculosis independently assigned the classification using the GATA and SMU classification systems, and the assignment was repeated 3 months later to test its reproducibility. Kappa value was used to determine the intra- and inter-observer reliability.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>For GATA and SMU classification systems, the inter-observer percentage of agreement averaged (59.9∓4.84)% (κ=0.412∓0.058) and (81.6∓6.06)% (κ=0.753∓0.068), and the intra-observer percentage of agreement was (75.6∓5.27)% (κ=0.624∓0.078) and (89.8∓2.28)% (κ=0.862∓0.037), respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The SMU classification system of spinal tuberculosis has a higher inter-observer and intra-observer reliability than the GATA classification system, but its clinical value needs to be further tested in future clinical trials.</p>