Abstract
We report five cases of posterior spinal shortening surgery for paraplegia after osteoporotic vertebral fracture. The 5 patients were three women and two men. The average age was 70.6 years (range 64-76 years). Fracture level was Th11-L1. Average follow-up period was seven months (range 2-13 months).
The vertebra was shortened by resecting the posterior part of the spine and the application of compression force. We tried to decrease the angle of kyphosis as much as possible. Kyphosis was improved as a result. The spine was decompressed by removal of the fractured pieces.
All patients had improved walking ability. None of the implants showed damage, and there were no signs of loss of reforming at last follow-up.
It is difficult to compare posterior spinal shortening surgery to the anterior fusion by Kaneda, however, posterior spinal shortening was a successful choice for treating these cases of delayed paraplegia after osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture.
