STUDY DESIGN A retrospective study. PURPOSE To examine the efficacy and safety for a posterior-approach circumferential decompression and shortening reconstruction with a titanium mesh cage for lumbar burst fractures. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE Surgical decompression and reconstruction for severely unstable lumbar burst fractures requires an anterior or combined anteroposterior approach. Furthe...

BACKGROUND Treatment of unstable thoracolumbar fractures is controversial regarding short or long segment pedicle screw fixation. Although long level fixation is better, it can decrease one motion segment distally, thus increasing load to lower discs. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed 31 unstable thoracolumbar fractures with partial or intact neurology. All patients were operated with poste...

Dear Editor, The thoracic and lumbar spine (from T1 to L5) is the most common sites of traumatic spinal injuries, especially in the thoracolumbar transition (T11-L2), a junctional area between the mobile lumbar and the rigid thoracic spine (1, 2). The most common causes of trauma are motor vehicle accidents in younger adults and fall in older patients (3). About 160.000 of injuries occur every ...

INTRODUCTION The optimal management of thoracolumbar spine fractures remains a matter of controversy. The current literature implies that the use of short-segment pedicle screw fixation may be inappropriate because of its high reported failure rate. The purpose of this study is to report the short-term results of thoracolumbar burst and compression fractures treated with short-segment pedicle i...

Intraoperative real-time sonography was used to monitor surgical reduction of acute thoracolumbar burst fractures in eight patients. Real-time sonography was performed after laminectomy through a saline-filled operative field using either a 5.0 or a 7.5 MHz transducer. Sonography was performed during Harrington rod distraction and during fracture reduction to confirm adequacy of decompression o...

Introduction: Bracing is an accepted part of operative treatment, however; the effectiveness of bracing is controversial. We sought evidences for the effect of Thoracolumbosacral Orthosis (TLSO) on spine proximal to the fusion site in patients treated for unstable thoracolumbar junction (TLJ) burst fractures. Materials and Methods: Fifty adult patients with unstable TLJ burst fractures are pros...