[Indications and results of early functional vertebral fracture treatment]

Early functional treatment was administered to 213 patients with stable compression fractures of thoracic and lumbar vertebrae between 1975 and 1982. Physiotherapy was carried out according to a uniform schedule. The patients were mobilized after an average of 6 days; hospitalization lasted 2 weeks on an average. Control examinations of 82 of these patients revealed only a slight union of compressed vertebral bodies (on an average, 7% of the initial height), which correlated with the primary compression and the patient's age. Remaining functional restriction of the spine and subjective complaints did not correlate significantly with the extent of vertebral compression.