Abstract
Non-contiguous vertebral fractures are not common. In 78 consecutive patients with acute thoracolumbar fractures, we found that 13 patients (16.7%) had noncontiguous spinal injuries. Five patients had a combination of cervical and thoracolumbar injuries and eight had a combination of thoracic and lumbar injuries. Four of the eight patients in the thoracic and lumbar group had posterior surgical stabilisation procedures. Two patients had instrumentation of all injured, noncontiguous vertebrae and healing occurred uneventfully, and two patients had instrumentation of only the major fracture and a progressive deformity occurred at the site of the minor fracture. We concluded that: (1) patients with a spinal fracture should have radiographic evaluation of their entire spine to rule out non-contiguous fractures; (2) if non-contiguous fractures are evident on standard radiographs, all levels of injury should be evaluated with computerised tomography; and (3) all unstable or potentially unstable injuries should be reduced, stabilised, and fused.
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Tearse, D., Keene, J. & Drummond, D. Management of non-contiguous vertebral fractures. Spinal Cord 25, 100–105 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1038/sc.1987.18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sc.1987.18
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