What is it about?
Traumatic dislocation fractures of the spine might be challenging for spine surgeons. The decision of which technique to use is not always simple. Thus, the surgeon should have in mind different options in order to choose the most suitable for each situation.
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Why is it important?
Treatment of severe dislocations of the high thoracic spine usually involves corpectomy, anterior strut graft and posterior instrumentation with pedicle screws. At these levels, this might require anterior and posterior approaches. However, some cases, specially in paraplegic patients, might be treated with corpectomy and spine shortening through a isolated posterior approach.
Perspectives
Different techniques have been described to treat traumatic spine dislocations. The choice of the technique depends on the timing from injury (rigidity of the fracture), level of the injury, neurological status and the surgeon experience. These are not common cases and surgeons should be aware of the different techniques available to treat these cases: total vertebrectomy and spinal shortening is an effective option.
Dr Alecio Cristino Evangelista Santos Barcelos
Hospital Estadual de Emergência e Trauma Senador Humberto Lucena
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Treatment of subacute thoracic spine fracture-dislocation by total vertebrectomy and spine shortening, Journal of Neurosurgery Spine, February 2013, Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group (JNSPG),
DOI: 10.3171/2012.10.spine12582.
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