The relationship between the ratio of interpedicular distance increase and the ratio of spinal canal compromise in thoracolumbar burst fractures

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between the interpedicular distance increase ratio and the ratio of canal compromise in thoracolumbar burst fractures. METHODS: Thirty-one patients (18 male and 13 female) with an average age of 30.8 (14–57) who had been treated for thoraco- lumbar burst fractures in the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology were included in the study. The initial anteroposterior radiographs of the patients were used to calculate the increase ratio of interpedicular distance (both from medial-to-medial and from center-to-center). The area measurements from the computerized tomography or magnetic resonans images were used to calculate the canal compromise. The relationship between the increase ratio of interpedicular distance and the ratio of canal compromise was investigated by correlation and linear regression analysis. RESULTS: There was a “very good” correlation between the from medial-to-medial and from center-to-center measurements of interpedicular distance (Pearson correlation coefficient: 0.89, p