Long-Term Patient-Reported Outcomes After Ventral Stabilization of Thoracolumbar Fractures

Area of Science:

• Spine Surgery
• Orthopedic Research
• Patient-Reported Outcomes

Background:

• Ventral stabilization of thoracolumbar spine fractures uses titanium cages, vertebral body replacements (VBR), and autologous pelvic bone grafts (APBG).
• Comparative long-term patient-reported outcomes for these techniques are limited.
• Restoring anterior column stability and alignment are key goals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare long-term patient-reported wellbeing after ventral stabilization using cage, VBR, and APBG techniques.
• To assess differences in pain and daily life limitations.
• To identify potential associations between surgical technique and patient outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective, non-randomized single-center cohort study with prospective follow-up.
• Ninety-one patients treated between 2008-2018 with cage (n=12), VBR (n=45), or APBG (n=34).
• Outcome assessed via modified Visual Analog Scale Spine Score (VAS-Spine) at least 12 months postoperatively.

Main Results:

• Sixty-three patients completed follow-up; mean age 52 ± 15 years, 41% female.
• Mean VAS-Spine scores: cage (2.7 ± 3.6), VBR (3.9 ± 2.8), APBG (4.9 ± 1.8) (p*=0.021).
• Cage group reported less pain and fewer daily life limitations.

Conclusions:

• Cage implantation was associated with more favorable patient-reported outcomes compared to VBR and APBG.
• Autologous pelvic bone grafting showed worse outcomes, potentially due to donor-site morbidity.
• Findings are associative and hypothesis-generating due to non-randomized design.