Abstract / Summary
Abstract Background Surgery is required to treat unstable thoracolumbar burst fractures. The best operation is still up for debate, though. Decompressing the neural components, reducing the fracture, and stabilizing the spine with fixation until arthrodesis is completed are the objectives of surgery. Our study aims to compare the effectiveness (both radiological and clinical outcomes) of short segment fixation (SSF) compared to long segment fixation (LSF) in dorsolumbar transitional zone post-traumatic fractures. The present study is a retrospective analysis of cases that underwent surgical fixation whether by long segment (more than one level below and one level above) versus short segment fixation (one level above and one level below plus the index level) operated upon in a single institute. The study period spans from January 2024 to January 2025. Patients were monitored through scheduled outpatient visits at 6 months and 1 year post-operatively. Results This study included 30 patients (divided into two groups, 15 patients each), with a mean age of 29.37 ± 10.46 years, where the majority of patients were males (73.3%), without previous surgical (76.7%) or medical (90%) history. The most frequently affected vertebra was L1 (53.3%), and the majority of trauma was secondary to road traffic accidents (53.3%), without statistically significant difference between SSF or LSF patients (all p > 0.05). Conclusion SSF and LSF provided comparable radiological outcomes in managing post-traumatic dorsolumbar transitional zone fractures. However, patients treated with SSF reported lower pain intensity scores at both 6 months and 1 year postoperatively, suggesting a potential clinical advantage of SSF in pain reduction without compromising structural stability.