Long term results of pedicle stabilized thoracolumbar fractures in relation to the neurological deficit

88 patients with thoracolumbar fractures and short-segment (mono or two segment) pedicle instrumentation from the years 1985-92 had a follow-up examination after an average time of 5.6 years. The 56 men and 32 women had an average age of 32.6 years at the time of injury. 24 patients primarily had a complete and 43 patients an incomplete paraplegia, 21 patients showed no neurological deficits. The operative decompression of the spinal cord and stabilization of the injured spine by short segment pedicle instrumentation led to a complete or partial remission of the neurological deficits in 93% of the patients with incomplete paraplegia. Operative stabilization allowed an early mobilization and rehabilitation of these patients. We found no tendency to an increased complication rate in patients with neurological deficits compared to patients without neurological deficits. Patients with initially incomplete paraplegia complained more often about pain than all the other patients. Despite intensive rehabilitation and retraining programs handicapped patients had obvious disadvantages regarding their further careers. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.