A study on functional outcome of Thoraco lumbar vertebra fracture treated with posterolateral instrumental fusion

Abstract

Background: The spinal injuries are common problems encountered by an orthoPaedician in day to day practice. The data on clinical outcome after instrumented spinal fusion is scant. Hence this study was undertaken to study the clinical outcome of the instrumented spinal fusion. Material and Methods: A prospective interventional study was undertaken among adult patients with acute thoracolumbar injuries admitted to the tertiary care hospital were included. Fifty adult patients with acute thoracolumbar injuries underwent the fusion with pedicle screws and rod instrumentation (Tango RS, Fa. Ulrich, Germany) with posterolateral fusion. The patients were followed up at 6th, 12th and 24th post-operative weeks. Results: The mean age was 40.1 years and more than three fourth were males. Fall from height was the major cause for the injury. The decrease in regional angle was statistically significant at 6th, 12th and 24th follow up visits when compared to baseline. The anterior wedge angle decreased to 5.240, 5.80 and 5.720 at 6th, 12th and 24th post-operative weeks respectively which was statistically significant when compared with the baseline. About 44%, 48% and 54% of the patients had normal sensory and motor functions at 6th, 12th and 24th weeks of follow up after surgery which was statistically significant when compared to the base line. Conclusion: This study was able to show that the postero lateral fusion had good clinical outcome.