The concept of treatment of burst fractures and vertebral fractures with distraction and rotation of the thoracic and lumbar spine according to the principle of residual fixation
Background. To solve the task of creating a concept and algorithm of treatment, it is necessary, first of all, to develop a working classification, on the basis of which the concept will be constructed. The proposed classification should provide the choice of the most effective treatment methods in each patient, which at the same time should be as safe and less traumatic as possible. Classification distribution is based on diagnostic signs of vertebral fractures, namely the identification of morphological factors leading to pathological changes. Identification of the nature and severity of damage to the spine segment allows predicting further development of deformation and assessing the effectiveness of a particular method of treatment in a particular clinical situation. Materials and methods. The total number of patients with injuries of the thoracic and lumbar spine was 113. The average age of patients was 34.3 years. Men were 67.9 %, women - 32.1 %. A retrospective study was conducted on the history of the disease, namely, data from clinical examination, radiological, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging before and after treatment. Inclusion criteria: uncomplicated and complicated burst fractures and vertebral fractures with distraction and rotation of the thoracic and lumbar spine. According to the universal classification of thoracic and lumbar injuries by Magerl et al., which is the AOSpine Thoracolumbar Spine Injury Classification System, an incomplete burst fracture type A3.1 and incomplete burst split fracture type A3.2, a complete burst fracture type A3.3, fracture of the vertebral body type A with distraction type AB (type B1.2, B2.3) and vertebral fracture type A with rotation type AC (type C1.3). Depending on the presence of neurological symptoms, patients were divided into those who had uncomplicated (n = 74; 65.4 %) and complicated (n = 39; 34.5 %) injuries. Results. The development of classification involves the analysis of diagnostic criteria, and the concept of treatment - the analysis of the effectiveness of a particular method of treatment. The proposed working surgical classification is based on the classifications of Magerl et al., TLIСS and McCormack internal stress distribution, as well as the results of own experimental and clinical studies. As a result of own clinical and experimental studies, it has been proved that increasing the degree of vertebral body destruction increases kyphotic deformity at the level of damage. Thus, the value of the primary kyphotic deformity of the spine directly depends on the degree of vertebral body destruction (degree of fragmentation). Conclusions. The concept of treatment of patients with blast fractures and fractures of vertebral bodies with distraction and rotation is developed, which allows to choose the optimal method of treatment based on three features - the degree of vertebral body fragmentation, deformity of the spine on the principle of residual fixation and deformity of the spinal canal.