Surgical Techniques for Thoracolumbar Spine Fractures: WFNS Spine Committee Recommendations (original) (raw)

Indications for Nonsurgical Treatment of Thoracolumbar Spine Fractures: WFNS Spine Committee Recommendations

Neurospine, 2021

Thoracolumbar spine is the most injured spinal region in blunt trauma. Literature on the indications for nonoperative treatment of thoracolumbar fractures is conflicting. The purpose of this systematic review is to clarify the indications for nonsurgical treatment of thoracolumbar fractures. We conducted a systematic literature search between 2010 to 2020 on PubMed/MEDLINE, and Cochrane Central. Up-to-date literature on the indications for nonoperative treatment of thoracolumbar fractures was reviewed to reach an agreement in a consensus meeting of WFNS (World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies) Spine Committee. The statements were voted and reached a positive or negative consensus using the Delphi method. For all of the questions discussed, the literature search yielded 1,264 studies, from which 54 articles were selected for full-text review. Nine studies (4 trials, and 5 retrospective) evaluating 759 participants with thoracolumbar fractures who underwent nonoperative/surgery w...

Management of Thoracolumbar Fractures

Indian journal of neurosurgery, 2015

Thoracolumbar region is the most commonly affected region of spine in trauma, but still no consensus exists on various aspects of its management. The management of thoracolumbar fractures has evolved considerably with time, but there are certain areas where there is still no consensus. Only few level I evidence are available to make any recommendation. This article reviews the current literature on evaluation, treatment, timing of surgery, choice of approach, and length of fusion.

Anterior Versus Posterior Approach in the Treatment of Chronic Thoracolumbar Fractures

Orthopedics, 2012

The purpose of this study was to compare the results of anterior approach vs posterior approach in the treatment of chronic thoracolumbar fractures. A total of 36 patients with chronic thoracolumbar fractures were divided into 2 groups. Group A was treated by an anterior approach and group B was treated by a posterior approach. During the minimum 24-month follow-up period (range, 24-62 months), all patients were prospectively evaluated for clinical and radiologic outcomes. Intraoperative blood loss, operative time, operative complications, pulmonary function, Frankel scale, and American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) motor score were used for clinical evaluation, and Cobb angle was examined for radiologic outcome. All patients in this study achieved solid fusion, with signifi cant neurologic improvement. Operative time, perioperative blood loss, ASIA score on admission and at fi nal follow-up, and complications of respiratory tract infection and intercostal nerve pain were not signifi cantly different between the 2 groups (PϾ.05), but complications of hemopneumothorax, abdominal distension, and constipation were fewer in group B (PϽ.05). Postoperative pulmonary function (PϽ.05) and correction of posttraumatic kyphosis were better in group B (PϽ.05).

10th International European association of research groups for spinal osteosynthesis symposium: thoracolumbar fractures

European Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, 2006

This year’s ARGOS International Symposium, held in Paris, January 26–27, focused on thoracolumbar fractures and their assessment.Indeed this topic is of high interest for spine surgeons around the world as the treatment of thoracolumbar is still a matter of debate. As in every year, over 250 attendees gathered at the Salons d’Iéna eager to exchange their ideas and different points of view in the well-established friendly and collegial atmosphere of ARGOS meetings. Together with the faculty members, who covered most of the issues related to this particularly hot topic, they tried to better understand thoracolumbar fractures mechanisms and define therapeutic patterns.Thursday January 26Session 1Starting the first session on Thursday afternoon, Professor Jean-Paul Steib, MD, Strasbourg, France, and Doctor Mark Weidenbaum, MD, New York, USA, discussed the “Choice of approach—Posterior, anterior, double approach—decision criteria”.The indications for surgery when dealing with thoracolumbar

Thoracolumbar Fractures: A Review of Classifications and Surgical Methods

Journal of Spine, 2015

Thoracolumbar fractures are an important topic in spinal surgery. In this article, the instability of the thoracolumbar fracture classifications and surgical treatments are discussed, with a particular focus on treatment concepts that are based on the modern classification systems.

Minimally invasive spine surgeries for treatment of thoracolumbar fractures of spine: A systematic review

Journal of Clinical Orthopaedics and Trauma, 2019

Many minimally invasive surgical (MIS) techniques have been developed for instrumentation of spine. These MIS techniques restore stability, alignment while achieving return to function quite early as compared to open spine surgeries. The main aim of this review was to evaluate role, indications and complications of these MIS techniques in Thoracolumbar and Lumbar fractures. Methods: Pubmed search using key words such as"Percutaneous pedicle screw for Thoracolumbar fractures" and "Video Assisted Thoracoscopy, Thoracoscopic, VATS for thoracolumbar, Lumbar and Spine fractures" were used till July 2016 while doing literature search. Authors analyzed all the articles, which came after search; the articles relevant to the topic were selected and used for the study. Both prospective and retrospective case control studies and randomized control trials (RCT's) were included in this review. Case reports and reviews were excluded. Studies demonstrating use of MIS in cases other than spine trauma and studies with lack of clinical follow up were excluded from this review. Variables such as number of patients, operative time and complications were evaluated in each study. Results: After pubmed search, we found total 68 studies till July 2016 out of which eight studies were relevant for analysis of Video Assisted Thoracoscopy for thoracolumbar and lumbar fractures. Total 72 articles for Percutaneous pedicle screws in thoracolumbar and lumbar fractures were retrieved out of which percutaneous pedicle screws were analyzed in eleven studies and twelve studies involved comparison of percutaneous pedicle screws and conventional open techniques. Conclusion: Role and Indications of the MIS techniques in spinal trauma are expanding quite rapidly. MIS techniques restore stability, alignment while achieving early return to function and lower infection rates as compared to open spine surgeries. In long term, they provide good kyphosis correction and stable fixation and fusion of spine. They are associated with long learning curve and technical challenges but with careful patient selection and in expert hands, MIS techniques may produce better results than open trauma spine surgeries.

Evaluation of Functional and Radiographic Outcomes of Thoracolumbar Fractures

Shafa Orthopedic Journal, 2015

Background: Thoracolumbar fractures are the most common fractures of the spinal column. There is no consensus about treatment method of choice among authors. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare radiographic and functional outcomes of conservative management with that of surgical treatment in thoracolumbar spine fractures. Patients and Methods: Forty-nine patients with single level acute thoracolumbar fractures and normal neurological examination were evaluated, of those 21 patients underwent surgery and 28 treated with orthosis. Radiographic outcomes were evaluated by measuring sagittal kyphotic angle, anterior vertebral body collapse and functional outcomes were assessed using SF36 health survey questionnaire and the Denis work and pain scales. Results: Among the surgically treated patients, sagittal kyphotic angle was significantly corrected immediately after operation and in the last follow-up compared to preoperative measurements (P < 0.001), functional results of SF36 score and pain scale were satisfactory. Among those received conservative management, sagittal kyphotic angle and anterior vertebral collapse were not significantly different before and after bracing (P = 0.4 and P = 0.8, respectively); functional outcome of SF36 scores were satisfactory and functional and radiographic results had no correlation. Conclusions: Functional outcome in both groups with surgical and non-surgical treatment was satisfactory. Radiographic indices were improved with surgical treatment and no correlation was found between functional and radiographic outcome.

The efficacy of non-operative treatment of burst fractures of the thoracolumbar vertebrae

Acta Orthopaedica Et Traumatologica Turcica, 2004

We evaluated the efficacy of non-operative treatment of thoracolumbar burst fractures. M e t h o d s : The study included 26 patients (19 males, 7 females; mean age 36 years; range 18 to 67 years) who underwent conservative treatment for single-level thoracolumbar fractures without posterior column involvement. None of the patients had neurologic deficits and canal encroachment was 50% or less in all fractures. Functional results were evaluated with the use of Denis' pain and work scales. Relationships were sought between functional results and follow-up time, progression in kyphosis angle, residual kyphosis, and residual canal stenosis, and between radiologic parameters. Resu l t s : Functional results were excellent or good in 65.3%, and poor in 7.7%. Three patients required surgery because of pain. Final follow-up evaluations showed a significant progression in the mean Cobb angle (p<0.001) and a significant remodelization in the mean canal encroachment (p<0.001). No significant correlations were found between progression in kyphosis, residual kyphosis, residual canal stenosis, and functional results (p>0.05). The mean initial Cobb angle was correlated with the mean initial canal encroachment (p<0.05). There was also a correlation between the initial canal encroachment and final remodelization (p<0.001). Co n c l u s i o n : Although non-operative management of thoracolumbar fractures has considerable eff i c a c y, it may yield poor results in a small percentage of patients, some of whom require surgery because of pain. Thus, further prospective, randomized, and comparative studies with longer follow-up periods are required to define prognostic factors that may predict poor results following non-operative treatment.

Two-Nation Comparison of Classification and Treatment of Thoracolumbar Fractures: An Internet-Based Multicenter Study among Spine Surgeons

Spine, 2015

Web-based-multicenter study OBJECTIVE.: To assess and compare the management strategy for traumatic thoracolumbar fractures between German and Dutch spine surgeons. To date, there is no evidence-based treatment algorithm for thoracolumbar spine fractures. Thereby an international controversy concerning optimal treatment exists. In this web-based-multicenter study (www.spine.hostei.com) CT-scans of traumatic thoracolumbar fractures (T12-L2) were evaluated by German and Dutch spine surgeons. Supplementary case-specific information as age, gender, height, weight, neurological status, and injury mechanism were provided.By use of a questionnaire, fractures were classified according to the AO-Magerl Classification, followed by six questions concerning the treatment algorithm. Data were analyzed using SPSS (Version 21, 76 Chicago IL, USA). The interobserver agreement was determined by Cohens-Kappa. Statistical significance was defined as p < 0.05. Twelve surgeons (six/country) evaluated...