Cotrel-Dubousset rods in surgical stabilization of spinal fractures

Cotrel-Dubousset instrumentation (CDI) was used to stabilize thoracolumbar fractures in 48 consecutive patients at the Lucerne Spinal Center. The results of these patients were reviewed with respect to completion of healing, change in neurologic status, medical or hardware complications, and follow-up radiographic parameters. Twenty patients were braced and 28 were not braced after operation, depending on certain criteria. Two elderly patients died at 1 and 6 months after their injury, of medical complications. One other patient was lost to follow-up after 6 months. Of the remaining 45 patients, all were evaluated at follow-up ranging from 12 to 47 months (mean, 21 months). Forty-two of the 45 patients (93%) developed a solid stable fusion with the initial procedure. Ten patients of 45 required additional surgical procedures for a complication rate of 22%, as follows: there were two early hardware failures requiring revision and one late failure that did not require revision. Five patients required late rod removal because of pain. One patient required late syrinx drainage without removal of hardware, and another adolescent patient required extension of her fusion because of late scoliosis development below the injury site. There were no infections or neurologic complications. Cotrel-Dubousset instrumentation rods have been found to be an excellent device for thoracolumbar fracture stabilization.