Epidemiologic analysis of 8000 acute vertebral fractures: evolution of treatment and complications at 10-year follow-up

Abstract

Study design This is a retrospective cohort study. Objectives This study aims to determine the proportional incidence, clinical characteristics, treatment patterns with complications and changes in treatment of vertebral fractures over 10 years at a Swiss university hospital. Methods A retrospective cohort study was performed. All patients with an acute vertebral fracture were included in this study. The extracted anonymized data from the medical records were manually assessed. Demographic data, exact location, etiology, type of treatment and complications related to the treatment were obtained. Results Of 330,225 treated patients, 4772 presented with at least one vertebral fracture. In total 8307 vertebral fractures were identified, leading to a proportional incidence of 25 vertebral fractures in 1000 patients. Fractures were equally distributed between genders. Male patients were significantly younger and more likely to sustain a traumatic fracture, while female patients more commonly presented with osteoporotic fractures. The thoracolumbar junction (Th11-L2) was the most frequent fracture site in all etiologies. More than two-thirds of vertebral fractures were treated surgically (68.6%). Out of 4622 performed surgeries, we found 290 complications (6.3%). The odds for surgical treatment in osteoporotic fractures were two times higher before 2010 compared to 2010 and after (odds ratio: 2.1, 95% CI 1.5–2.9, p < 0.001). Conclusion Twenty-five out of 1000 patients presented with a vertebral fracture. More than 4000 patients with over 8307 vertebral body fractures were treated in 10 years. Over two-thirds of all fractures were treated surgically with 6.3% complications. There was a substantial decrease in surgeries for osteoporotic fractures after 2009.

Georg Schmorl prize of the German spine society (DWG) 2022: current treatment for inpatients with osteoporotic thoracolumbar fractures—results of the EOFTT study

“…The majority of complications were nonsurgical and not life threatening and could thus be treated conservatively. Overall, the number of complications was comparable to or even lower than that reported in the literature [30,31].…”

Reply to “Epidemiologic analysis of 8000 acute vertebral fractures: evolution of treatment and complications at 10-year follow-up”: food for thought outside the box

“…Author details 1 Emergency Department, Sonnenhof Hospital, Bern, Switzerland. 2 Department of Anesthesiology, Spitalregion Rheintal, Werdenberg, Sarganserland, Grabs, Switzerland.…”

“…With great interest we read the retrospective cohort study by Bigdon et al entitled “Epidemiologic analysis of 8000 acute vertebral fractures: evolution of treatment and complications at 10-year follow-up” [ 1 ]. The authors are to be congratulated on the extensive work they performed leading up to this large study.…”

Letter to the editor regarding “Epidemiologic analysis of 8000 acute vertebral fractures: evolution of treatment and complications at 10-year follow-up”

“…We have studied the article by Bigdon et al, published recently in the Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research, with great interest [1]. The authors analysed n = 330,225 emergency room patients and identified more than 8000 vertebral fractures in 4772 patients over a 10-year period.…”