Biomechanical effects of posterior pedicle fixation techniques on the adjacent segment for the treatment of thoracolumbar burst fractures: a biomechanical analysis

Abstract

Posterior pedicle fixation technique is a common method for treating thoracolumbar burst fractures, but the effect of different fixation techniques on the postoperative spinal mechanical properties has not been clearly defined, especially on adjacent segments. A finite element model of T10-L2 with moderate T12 vertebra burst fracture was constructed to investigate biomechanical behavior of three posterior pedicle screw fixation techniques. Compared with traditional short-segment 4 pedicle screw fixation (TS-4) and intermediate long-segment 6 pedicle screw fixation (IL-6), mono-segment 4 pedicle screw fixation (MS-4) provides a safer surgical selection to prevent the secondary degeneration of adjacent segments in the long-term.

Keywords:

• Biomechanics
• finite element analysis
• pedicle screw fixation
• burst fractures

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors acknowledge the financial supports from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 81672201 and 81871794) and Defense Industrial Technology Development Program (Nos. JCKY2018601B106 and JCKY2017205B032).