Results of using Thoracolumbar Injury Classification and Severity Score (TLICS) in Treatment of Thoracolumbar Fractures

Abstract

Aim: To compare short and long term pain intensity changes and long term loss of correction rates in patients who were treated either by kyphoplasty or posterior segmentation due to their TLICS and LSC scores, therefore evaluate the specificity of these classifications. Material and Methods: Medical records of 106 patients operated due to thoracolumbar compression or burst fracture in our clinics between years 2012 to 2015 have been evaluated retrospectively. The patients were evaluated with postoperative radiography (loss of reduction) and visual analogue scale (VAS) in their follow-ups. Results: The average stay on hospital was 6.53 ± 4.51 days in kyphoplasty group. The mean preoperative cobb angle was 10.76±11.67 degrees, which improved to 10.19±10.66 degrees at postoperative 1th month. Beside this, the mean preoperative VAS score was 7.93±0.68 then improved to 4.25±0.77 and 2.75 ± 1.43 at postoperative 6th, 12th month follow-ups respectively. There were 42 patients in instrumentation group. The mean hospitalization was 13.47±10.43 days. The mean preoperative cobb angle was 15.84±10.52 and it improved to 11.86±8.15 degrees at the postoperative 1th-month follow-up. The preoperative VAS scores of the patients improved from 7.71±0.71 to 4.09±0.79 and 4.26±1.23 at 6th and 12th month follow-ups. Conclusion: In long term follow up the kyphoplasty group showed more loss of correction however lesser VAS scores comparing to the instrumentation group. Although evaluating TLICS scores to kyphoplasty patients is still based on case reports in our series it was performed to 64 patients.