Tribhuwan Narayan Singh Gaur, Pradeep Bhargava
BACKGROUND Spinal cord housed and protected by vertebral column, hence injury to vertebral column endanger the function of spinal cord and half of the spinal column injury associated with spinal cord injury. In our study, we are comparing two method of spinal column fixation in thoracolumbar spinal column injury as incidence of dorsolumbar injuries accounted for 75% of all spine injuries. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was conducted between 25 patients (fixed with Harrington rod retrospective group) and 28 (pedicle screw rod prospective group) with dorsolumbar spine fractures. RESULTS In our study, 60% fractures occur T11 to L2. Fall from tree were the common mode of injury in rural population, while in urban area, it were due to road accident followed by fall. Fractures of spine are more common in males as compared to females. Fixation with pedicle screw rod associated fast recovery and did not need any type of brace during postop rehabilitation, complication like implant failure, infection, etc. were less in pedicle screw group. CONCLUSION Pedicle screw and rod system is superior to Harrington rod system as it gives three column spine fixation, but it is technically demanding procedure. Although, final neurological recovery did not show any difference with either type of fixation.
