When thoracic and lumbar spine fracture occurs, some degree of neurologic deficit is present in a significant percentage of cases. Knowledge of the fracture patterns in each anatomical area of the spine allows to assess the relative stability of the injury, the risk of an associated neurologic deficit, and the specific treatment needed. We studied the frequency of the neurologic deficits with various clinical findings.

Retrospective studies of 151 patients with thoracic or lumbar spine fractures from January 1987 to August 1992 were performed. There were 93 males and 58 females. The average age was 43.0. There were 20 (13.2%) fractures of the thoracic spine, 83 (55.0%) fractures of the thoracolumbar junction, and 48 (31.8%) fractures of the lumbar spine. The neurologic deficit was noted in 26.5% of the patients; 6.0% cord lesion in thoracic fracture, 14.5% cord or multiple root lesion in thoracolumbar fracture, and 6.0% multiple root lesion in lumbar fracture. Operative managements were performed in 37.1% of patients, and spinal orthoses were applied in 30.6% of patients. The average length of hospital stay was 53.3 days.