Abstract
One-hundred and seventeen patients with acute thoracolumbar vertebral column fracture or fracture-dislocations were analyzed and classified into stable (36%) and unstable (64%). Eight helpful roentgen signs were observed that may serve to direct attention to serious underlying, often occult, fractures and dislocations. The changes fall into four principal groups: abnormal soft tissues, abnormal vertebral alignment, abnormal joints, and widened vertebral canal. All stable and unstable lesions showed abnormal soft tissues, while 70% demonstrated kyphosis and/or scoliosis, and an abnormal adjacent intervertebral disk space. All unstable lesions showed one or more of the following signs: displaced vertebra, widened interspinous space, abnormal apophyseal joint(s), and widened vertebral canal.
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Gehweiler, J.A., Daffner, R.H. & Osborne, R.L. Relevant signs of stable and unstable thoracolumbar vertebral column trauma. Skeletal Radiol 7, 179–183 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00361861
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00361861