Long term clinical outcome of the hook-screw combined instrumentation in preventing correction loss after surgical treatment of unstable thoracolumbar fractures / 中华创伤杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the biomechanical basis and long term clinical outcome of the offset hook-screw combined instrumentation in preventing against correction loss after it is used to treat the unstable thoracolumbar fractures. Methods Of 98 cases treated with the offset hook-screw combined instrumentation from July 1997 to December 2002, 64 with follow-up over two years were reviewed. All 64 cases received operation within average 3.2 days after injury, of which 41 were fixated with CD or CD-Horizon instrumentation and 23 with TSRH instrumentation. The long term clinical outcome evaluation included the maintenance of the vertebral height restoration, the sagittal kyphotic Cobb angle loss and the coronal Cobb angle correction loss. Results No death occurred. But after operation, there was one case with worsened neurological deficits (recovered one week after surgery) and two with deep infection. The average post-operative vertebral height and the coronal Cobb angle were restored by 89.0% and 100.0% respectively and the sagittal kyphotic Cobb angle corrected from preoperative 31?to postoperative -1? . During the follow-up for 24-62 months, no instrumentation breakage occurred. The pseudoarthrosis was affirmed in one case and suspected in two with the vertebral height loss of 8.6% and the kyphotic Cobb angle correction loss of 4?respectively. Conclusions The offset hook-screw combined instrumentation can satisfactorily restore the normal sagittal profile, effectively prevent the fixation loosening or breakage, minimize the mechanical failure of instrumentation, and particularly reduce the loss of long-term correction.