title: Palliative surgical approach to rehabilitate spinal injury patient in Indian rural setup.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the usefulness of conventional spinal surgery as palliative procedure to rehabilitate dorsolumbar injuries in a rural setup.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-three patients with dorsolumbar spine injury with complete paraplegia were assessed on the clinical and social rehabilitation parameters after surgical stabilization at Acharya Vinoba Bhave Rural Hospital Sawangi, Wardha, India. The study group comprised 21 male and 2 female patients. The dorsolumbar spine injury was fixed by conventional posterior instrumentation using short-segment pedicle screw system and Harrington rod system with or without fusion. Functional and neurologic outcome was recorded in the follow-up period by using Functional Independence Measure and Frankel grade, respectively. Correlation and analysis of results was established statistically.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Functional outcome showed statistically significant improvement. Social cognition was found intact in a significant number of patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrates the usefulness of conventional instrumentation as palliative surgical approach to stabilize and rehabilitate patients from deprived sector of rural India.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics and Trauma, Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College & Acharya Vinoba Bhave Rural Hospital, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences, Wardha, India.
authors.forename: Pradeep K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Harshal
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sakale
authors.forename: Sandeep
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shrivastva
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dulani