title: EVALUATION OF SURGICAL TREATMENT OF FRACTURES OF THORACOLUMBAR SPINE WITH THIRD-GENERATION MATERIAL FOR INTERNAL FIXATION.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the functional results from patients with surgical fractures in the thoracolumbar spine.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective study including 100 patients with spinal fractures in the thoracic and lumbar segments was conducted. The lesions were classified in accordance with the AO system, and the patients were treated surgically. The presence of early kyphosis and its evolution after the surgical intervention, and the presence of postoperative pain and its evolution up to the 24(th) week after the surgery, were evaluated. We compared our data with the literature.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred surgical patients were analyzed, of which 37 were type A, 46 were type B and 17 were Type C. Patients who presented Frankel A kept their clinical status, but patients with Frankel B or higher evolved with some improvement. The average improvement in pain based on a visual analog scale was more than four points. All the patients were able to return to their daily routine activities, although we did not take the return to work to be an assessment criterion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite controversy regarding the indications for surgery in cases of fractured spine, we believe that the method that we used was satisfactory because of the good results and low complication rate. However, more randomized prospective studies with longer follow-up are needed in order to evaluate this type of fixation.
authors.affiliation: Head of the Spinal Pathology Group, Department of Orthopedics, Hospital Santa Marcelina, Eastern Zone, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Adalberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bortoletto
authors.affiliation: Attending Physician, Spinal Pathology Group, Department of Orthopedics, Hospital Santa Marcelina, Eastern Zone, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luiz Cláudio Lacerda
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: Head of the Orthopedics and Traumatology Service, Hospital Santa Marcelina, Eastern Zone, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcelo Hide
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
keywords: Spinal Cord Injuries; Spinal Fractures/classification; Spinal Fractures/surgery; Treatment Outcome