The management of thoracolumbar burst fractures is controversial. The goal of our study was to evaluate whether the psychological factors or the late spinal deformities influence outcome and in particular quality of life following surgical treatment of burst fractures of the thoracolumbar spine. In a retrospective analysis, we evaluated outcome in 45 patients in whom burst fractures of the thoracolumbar spine without neurological deficits were surgically treated between April 2001 and November 2004. For this purpose, patient charts, surgery reports and x-ray images were analyzed consecutively. 29 patients could be examined physically and the outcome could be evaluated with VAS spine core, quality of life according to short-form 36 (SF36) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) with a minimum follow up of 30 months.Introduction
Material and methods
