Current concepts in anterior surgery for thoracolumbar trauma.

Our goals in writing this article are to facilitate understanding of issues related to (1) why anterior fixation for thoracolumbar fractures are an important tool for managing these injuries, (2) when to perform these as a single procedure, or in combination with other procedures such as vertebrectomy and/or posterior stabilization and fusion, (3) to appreciate the biomechanical and design-related issues of available systems, and (4) what the clinical outcomes are following these procedures.