Treatment of burst thoracolumbar fractures with pedicle screws fixation and transpedicular intervertebral bone graft in injured vertebrae

ZHANG Jing-lin; GAO Hong-hui; LIU Xiao-long; LI Liang; YAN Shu-yi

Abstract：Objective To study the effectiveness of pedicle screws fixation and transpedicular intervertebral bone graft in injured vertebrae for the treatment of thoracolumbar fractures .Methods Thirty six cases of burst thora-columbar fractures from Dec .2008 to Nov.2011 were analyzed retrospectively . All patients were cured by pedicle screws fixation and transpedicular intervertebral bone graft in injured vertebrae .Among them 24 were male and 12 fe-male and the average age was 39.2 years(26-62 years).The injured segments were T11 in 9 cases,T12 in 13 cases,L1 in 10 cases,L2 in 3cases and L3 in 1 case.Fifteen cases were resulted from traffic accidents ,15 from falls and 6 from crushing.Based on Frankel classification ,2 cases were rated as grade B ,13 cases as grade C,6 cases as grade D and 15 cases as grade E .The X-ray film and Frankel classification were conducted to evaluate the function recovery effec -tiveness.Results All the patients were followed up for 14-60 months(mean,21.6 months).The neural function in 36 cases improved 1-3 grades 1.5 years after operation .There was clear relief of pain after surgery ( VAS scores im-proved obviously ) .Films showed good bone graft healing and no loosening or breakage of screws and rods .Radio-graphic index showed significant differences before and after the operation (P<0.01).Conclusion Treatment of burst thoracolumbar fractures with pedicle screws fixation and transpedicular intervertebral bone graft in injured verte -brae has satisfactory effectiveness .It can reconstruct vertebral body height ,increase the stability of three columns of the injured vertebrae and prevent loosening .Pedicle screws fixation and transpedicular intervertebral bone graft in in-jured vertebrae for the treatment of thoracolumbar fractures is worth widely promoting in clinical application .