Feasibility evaluation of pedicle screw fixation for repairing thoracolumbar fracture via fractured vertebrae / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:Traditionaly repairing single vertebral thoracolumbar fracture often uses of cross-vertebral 4 screw fixation. Because of “paralelogram effect” and the “suspension effect”, it is prone to have internal fixation failure, reset height and correction angle loss, and other complications. However, these complications can be avoided or reduced by fractured vertebra pedicle screw fixation. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the feasibility evaluation of pedicle screw fixation for repairing thoracolumbar fracturevia fractured vertebrae. METHODS:A total of 23 patients with single segment thoracolumbar fractures treated at the First Hospital of Lanzhou University between January 2013 and June 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. The fractured segments were between T11 to L2, the patient’s average age was 47.8 years old. Al the patients received the posterior pedicle screws and adjacent and up and down six pedicle screw internal fixation within 10 days after injury. The repair effect was observed, including short-term postoperative complications, vertebral height ratio, Cobb angle and the recovery of spinal neurological function. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Twenty-three cases were folowed up for 4 to 15 months. Al patients had no severe complications in the short term (4 to 15 months) after treatment. There was no screw rod breakage or internal fixation loosening at the last folow-up. The vertebral height ratios and Cobb angle which were measured in postoperative and final folow-up were significantly improved compared with the preoperative data (P 0.05). The spinal neurological functions of most patients were partialy recovered at the last folow-up. These results suggest that pedicle screw embedding fixation repairing thoracolumbar fractureviafractured vertebrae can effectively restore vertebral height and correct kyphosis, and maintain correction effect. The advantages are obvious with a low occurrence rate of pedicle screw fracture.