Clinical Evaluation of Anterolateral Surgical Decompression and Instrumentation in Thoracolumbar Bursting Fracture

ABSTRACT

The authors report clinical results of fifty-two traumatic thoracolumbar bburstfractures treated by internal fixation with Kaneda device after anterior decompression during recent six years. The burst fractures occurred most frequently at the age of twenties and thirties. The main causes of injury were vehicle accident and fall.In all cases, spinal decompression, internal instrumet fixation and bone fusion(rib, iliac bone) were performed. No patient showed neurological deterioration after surgery and almost all patients improved post operatively by on grade of Frankel's(classification). Thirty-three patients(85%) with Denis type I and II showed the correction of the fracture deformities with good bony fusion and 9 of 13 patients(70%) with Denis type IV showed bony fusion in serial follow-up. It if thus concluded that anterolateral internal fixation combined with bony fusion provide good mechanical stability and decompression of protruding ventral bone fragments above conus medullaris level.