Neurosurgery and Neuroscience

Background: Dorsolumbar spine injury is the most common cause of paraparesis or paraplegia. Optimal goals of the management include establishment of a painless, balanced and stable spinal column with vertebral fusion.

 

Material & Methods: We reviewed various types of fractures of dorsolumbar spine, their management and outcome in a prospective study of 59 cases of dorsolumbar trauma managed surgically at our centre (January 2014-December 2017). All patients underwent complete neurological examination, X-ray and MRI imaging of the spine.

 

Study Design & Settings: Prospective observational descriptive study in a tertiary care hospital from January 2014 to December 2017.

 

Results: 59 consecutive patients of dorsolumbar spine injuries with neurological deficit ranged from 14-65 years were included in this study. Out of them 56 (94.91%) patients were male and remaining 3 (5.09%) were female. Most common D12 vertebra was fractured in 20 cases, L1 in 19 cases, L2 and L3 in 4 cases each; L4, D12/L1 and L1/L2 in 2 cases each and D9, D11, D10/D11, D11/D12, D12/L3, D5/D6 in one case each. Most common mode of injury was fall from height (84.85%), others due to road traffi c accident. Majority of the patients belonged to Frankel Grade A (71.18%) i.e. 42 cases presented with complete paraplegia while 17 presented with incomplete neurological deficit. All patients were operated using posterior approach, by decompression of the cord by laminectomy at the site of injury with stabilization by interpedicular screws and rods above and below the level if injured vertebral body.