[Experiences with the Steffee variable screw placement system in fractures of the thoracic and lumbar spine].

The variable screw placement (VSP) system was first used in orthopaedic surgery. In recent years, this rigid screw-plate system has been implanted with increasing frequency in patients with traumatic instabilities of the thoracolumbar spine. At the University Hospital in Graz, 20 patients have been operated on in the Department of Surgery using this system, and 15 of them have been followed up some months after the hardware removal. The results are compared with those achieved in patients whose instabilities were stabilized with other implants.