Surgical Treatment of Unstable Thoracic and Lumbar Spine Disease Using TSRH Instrumentation

Sohn, Moon Jun; Lee, Ho Yun; Kim, Jung Hoon; Ra, Young Shin; Kwon, Yang; Rhim, Seung Chul; Lee, Jung Kyo; Kwun, Byung Duk; Whang, Choong Jin

Abstract

The authors present surgical experience with 33 patients who had incurred unstable thoracic or lumbar spine pathology(22 degenerative lumbar spine disease, 6 trauma, 3 tumor, 2 vertebral tuberculosis) and who were intraoperatively stabilized with the Texas Scottish Rite-Hospital(TSRH) universal instrumentation system over 20 months period. The 11 men and 22 women(mean age 45 years, range 23 to 71 years) presenting with signs or symptoms of neural compression underwent surgery consisting of neural decompression, internal fixation, and bone grafting. Spondylolisthesis were fused in situ without reduction. For thoracic and thoracolumbar junction pathology, multisegment fixations were performed. A 95% fusion rate was obtained with a mean follow-up period of 15 months. There were no cases of instrumentation failure. Major postoperative complications included 2 isolated nerve root deficits(one transient, one permanent) and 3 pulmonary embolism(one fatal). The construct design of the TSRH system offers some advantag es compared to other forms of interal fixation:simple assembly, rigid stability, safety, and ability to remove easily. This system provides a highly successful method to obtain arthrodesis for unstable thoracic or lumbar spine.