title: Management of fracture and lateral dislocation of the thoracic spine without any neurological deficits: three case reports and review of the literature.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fracture and dislocation of the thoracic spine without neurological deficits are rare. Most of these cases are managed by non-operative methods or a posterior approach surgery.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To report three cases of fracture and lateral dislocation of the thoracic spine without neurological deficits and review the literature on the management strategy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three patients who suffered thoracic spinal fracture and lateral dislocation without spinal cord injury underwent anterior decompression, reduction and internal fixation. The case series describe their management, surgical intervention and their follow-up.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Reduction was satisfactory, none of the patients had any postoperative neurological deficits. Fusion was successful, and vertebral column alignment was maintained at the last follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An anterior approach facilitated adequate decompression, reduction and stabilization through instrumentation in this series of injury without neurological deficits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Spine Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 1838 N. Guangzhou Ave, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.|Department of Spine Surgery, The First People's Hospital of Chenzhou, Chenzhou, Hunan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Department of Spine Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 1838 N. Guangzhou Ave, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.|Department of Spine Surgery, The First People's Hospital of Chenzhou, Chenzhou, Hunan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Spine Surgery, The First People's Hospital of Chenzhou, Chenzhou, Hunan, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Spine Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, 1838 N. Guangzhou Ave, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong, People's Republic of China. richardtj@sina.com.
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls; D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000328:Adult; D019299:Decompression, Surgical / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005593:Fracture Fixation, Internal / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D004204:Joint Dislocations / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D016103:Spinal Fractures / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae / Q000293:injuries*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Anterior reconstruction; Fracture-dislocation; Neural sparing; Spinal cord injury; Thoracic spine