Surgical Treatment of the Thoracolumbar Spine Fractures.

Plain-language summary

The thoracolumbar segment fractures are the most frequent along the spine, and surgical treatment is indicated in unstable fractures. Surgical treatment has been performed through the posterior fixation pedicle fixation systems, and where necessary complemented by decompression of the spinal arthrodesis and previous channel. Surgical treatment has been performed by conventional open approach through the posterior incision on the midline, and detachment and removal of paraspinal muscles to access the posterior vertebral elements. The percutaneous minimally invasive surgery was introduced in the context of spinal surgery to reduce the morbidity associated with conventional open approach. It has been reported the lowest bleeding intra- and postoperative period, less pain, shorter hospital stay, rehabilitation and return to work faster with less use of minimally invasive percutaneous approach of the spine. However, predominates in the literature of clinical case reports and few prospective and randomized clinical trials. The performance of prospective randomized clinical trials have been required for the evaluation of the benefits of minimally invasive surgery in the treatment of the thoracolumbar spine fractures. The objective of the study is to compare the surgical treatment of fractures of the thoracolumbar spine using the conventional open approach or minimally invasive percutaneous approach to the stabilization of the vertebral segment affected, and using similar type of pedicle spinal fixation system. Patients will be evaluated in the preoperative, postoperative, 1,2,3,6,12 and 24 months by parameters related to the perioperative (intraoperative bleeding, surgery time), clinical (VAS, SF-36, HADS, EQ-5D-5L), images (radiographs and computed tomography). The study results will impact the guidelines of the surgical treatment of thoracolumbar spine fractures and may indicate the advantages or disadvantages of using surgery through conventional open approach to minimally invasive percutaneous surgery.

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