Thoracic and Lumbar Spine Injury: Evidence-Based Diagnosis, Management, and Outcomes

Traumatic thoracolumbar spine injuries are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Targeted for non-spine specialist trauma surgeons, this systematic scoping review aimed to examine literature for up-to-date evidence on presentation, management, and outcomes of thoracolumbar spine injuries in adult trauma patients.

This review was reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses checklist. We searched four bibliographic databases: PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library. Eligible studies included experimental, observational, and evidence-synthesis articles evaluating patients with thoracic, lumbar, or thoracolumbar spine injury, published in English between January 1, 2010 and January 31, 2021. Studies which focused on animals, cadavers, cohorts with N <30, and pediatric cohorts (age <18 years old), as well as case studies, abstracts, and commentaries were excluded.

A total of 2501 studies were screened, of which 326 unique studies were fully text reviewed and twelve aspects of injury management were identified and discussed: injury patterns, determination of injury status and imaging options, considerations in management, and patient quality of life. We found: (1) imaging is a necessary diagnostic tool, (2) no consensus exists for preferred injury characterization scoring systems, (3) operative management should be considered for unstable fractures, decompression, and deformity, and (4) certain patients experience significant burden following injury.

In this systematic scoping review, we present the most up-to-date information regarding the management of traumatic thoracolumbar spine injuries. This allows non-specialist trauma surgeons to become more familiar with thoracolumbar spine injuries in trauma patients and provides a framework for their management.