Thoracolumbar burst fractures: correlation between post-traumatic spinal canal stenosis and initial neurological deficit.

Forty five patients (27 males and 18 females) aged 18 to 62 years, with thoracolumbar burst fracture treated between 1980 to 1994 were studied retrospectively. The purpose of the study was the identification of the existing correlation between the posttraumatic spinal canal stenosis and the initial neurological deficit. The presence of Dall and Stauffer type II fracture statistically constitutes an important factor, with negative involvement, in the diagnosis of the initial neurological status. In thoracolumbar spine, there is an inversely proportional relation with statistical importance between the level of injury and the post-traumatic spinal stenosis-as the burst fracture is sited higher, smaller canal encroachments by fragments will produce the same neurological deficit.