MINIMALLY INVASIVE PERCUTANEOUS SCREW PLACEMENT VERSUS OPEN PEDICLE SCREW FIXATION IN THE TREATMENT OF THORACOLUMBAR FRACTURES

Yang Liu¹, Heng Zhang¹, Shengxiang Ao², Lijia Pei¹, Xinshe Zhou^{1, *}

¹Department of Orthopaedics, The first Affiliated hospital of Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, PR China - ²Department of Orthopaedics, The Second Affiliated Xinqiao Hospital of Army Medical University, Chongqing, PR China

Objective: To explore the effect of minimally invasive percutaneous screw placement and open pedicle screw internal fixation on the treatment of thoracolumbar fractures. 

Methods: From October 2018 to April 2019, 64 patients with thoracolumbar fractures were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group. The observation group was treated with minimally invasive percutaneous screw placement, while the control group was treated with open pedicle screw internal fixation. 

Results: There was no significant difference in the length of operation between the two groups (P>0.05), but the amount of bleeding in the observation group was significantly less than that in the control group (P<0.05). After periods of 2 weeks, 5 months and at the last follow-up, the scores given in VAS pain ratings by the observation group were significantly different from those given by the control group (P<0.05). In addition, the vertebral compression rate and Cobb angle of the two groups significantly recovered before and after operation, and the two indexes were significantly improved compared to those before operation, but there was no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). 

Conclusion: Minimally invasive percutaneous screw placement surgery had the same treatment effect as traditional open surgery pedicle screw internal fixation, which reduced the compression rate of the patient’s vertebral body and quickly recovered the Cobb angle. However, minimally invasive surgery caused less bleeding, reduced postoperative pain and improved the prognoses of patients.