STUDY DESIGN Retrospective analysis of a Medicare database (2005 to 2012). OBJECTIVE To study postoperative complication rates following thoracolumbar fusion for traumatic thoracolumbar fracture in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) compared with patients without AS. METHODS The PearlDiver database (2005 to 2012) was queried to examine postoperative complication rates in patients wit...

BACKGROUND In recent years, transforaminal epidural injections have emerged as an alternative to interlaminar and caudal epidural steroid injections. The rationale for utilizing transforaminal epidural injections has been described for diagnostic as well as therapeutic purposes. The evidence for lumbar transforaminal epidural steroid injections in managing lumbar nerve root pain is strong, wher...

Introduction: Suicidal jumper’s fracture (unstable sacral fracture) is characterized not only by multiple fractures including thoracolumbar fractures, but also major chest and abdominal injuries. Early stabilization of these fractures and early ambulation are required for the treatment and management of chest and abdominal injuries. We present 3 cases of suicidal jumper’s fracture with thoracol...

BACKGROUND Rehabilitation of elderly patients with sit-to-stand (STS) dysfunction includes retraining coordinated movement among participating body segments. Although trunk position is considered important, spinal movement has not been measured. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to describe the sagittal thoracolumbar kinematics and hip-lumbar interaction during the STS task in elderly peopl...

BACKGROUND The "gold standard" for instrumentation of unstable thoracolumbar fracture-dislocations is pedicle screw and rod fixation. Although traditional treatment supports long-segment posterior fixation (LSPF), more recent studies show short-segment posterior fixation (SSPF) may be effective, but incur higher failure rates. Here, we evaluated the effectiveness of SSPF in the management of un...

Background and purpose - Randomized trials have found that treating spinal burst fractures with reduction and posterior fixation is adequate without the use of bone grafting for definitive fusion. Restitution of intervertebral mobility of such an unfused segment after fracture healing may unload the adjacent parts of the spine and reduce the risk of degeneration of these segments. We used radio...

The objective of this study was to assess which patient group had better outcomes for management of single level thoracolumbar spinal fractures. We prospectively collected data on the outcomes of patients having either conservatively managed, traditional open surgery, or minimally interventional surgery (MIS) for treatment of a single level thoracolumbar fracture. All patients had previously as...

In thoracolumbar spinal fractures with posterior column injury for applying proper management, it is important to distinguish a flexion-distraction injury (FDI) from a three column burst fracture (BF) as in clinical examination, both may have a similar significant tenderness on direct spinal palpation. Careful attention to the comprehensive clinical examination and detailed imaging features are...

There has been a large series in the literature reporting on results of osteotomy for the correction of kyphotic deformity secondary to post-traumatic thoracolumbar fracture. However, there are few reports on using intraoperative, full rotation, three dimensional image (O-arm)-based navigation, transpedicular wedge osteotomy for the correction of kyphotic deformity in old thoracolumbar fracture...

Objective The incidence of thoracolumbar fractures is increasing in modern society concomitantly with population aging. role percutaneous vertebroplasty as a possible treatment option for remains unclear. Methods In this study, we retrospectively reviewed clinical and radiological factors, including sex, age, bone mineral density, mechanisms injury, fracture levels, the Magerl classification 10...