Thoracolumbar flexion-distraction injuries combined with vertebral body fractures.

Surgery was performed on 25 patients with combination injuries (flexion-distraction injury plus vertebral body fracture): 8 patients with anterior-column failure (compression) and 17 patients with anterior-column plus middle-column failure (burst). Patients with compression received posterior instrumentation and underwent fusion; patients with burst received posterior instrumentation and later underwent anterior decompression and fusion. Eleven patients in the burst group had a neurologic deficit. Single dural tears were discovered in 7 patients during the posterior-instrumentation procedure. By the end of the follow-up period (mean, 34.4 months; range, 18-76 months), neither implant failure nor loss of correction had occurred. Combined mechanisms may go unrecognized and thereby result in increased morbidity and inappropriate treatment. Proper evaluation of the posterior elements is of utmost importance for the diagnosis of flexion-distraction injuries with vertebral body fractures. After diagnosis, treatment should be started with a posterior procedure.