[Stability of the spine following osteosynthesis with internal fixation. Case report].

Fractures of the first and third lumbar vertebrae were primarily reduced and stabilized with a Fixateur interne (The XII-LIV) and filled with transpedicular bone grafts in a 21 years old girl. Nine months after this injury she fell from the fifth floor sustaining a flexion-distraction fracture of Th XI whereas the lumbar spine as well as the Fixateur interne remained intact. Stabilization by a Fixateur interne was carried out again. This is an example of the broad application of Fixateur interne in lower thoracic and lumbar spine traumatology and for the high degree of stability of the Fixateur system.