Burst fracture, the injury of anterior and middle column of vertebrae, resulting to retropulsion of posterior vertebral body into the canal spinal. This injury often occurs in thoracolumbar region. Widening of the interpedicular distance as a result of axial trauma and allowing for invasion of vertebral body fragments into the spinal canal, resulting in compression of the spinal cord. This interpedicular distance can be easily measured on plain x-rays. Axial findings on CT-Scan or MRI can demonstrate narrowing of the spinal canal and contribute to understanding the severity of injury, and may be useful for predicting potential neurologic recovery. Undiagnosed and untreated spinal injuries can result in neurological deficits that affect the patients function and quality of life. This observational analytical study aimed to analyze the correlation between interpedicular distance widening and spinal canal narrowing to the neurological status of thoracolumbar burst fracture patients. In our study, 67 patients with thoracolumbar burst fracture from January 2015 to December 2022 were investigated with respect to interpedicular distance and spinal canal diameter. These variables were correlated to neurological deficit with ASIA score calculation. Our study found that that the average widening of the interpedicular distance in this study was 18.80%, and the average spinal canal narrowing was 28.92%. The correlation coefficient of 0.794 shows a very strong positive correlation between widening of the interpedicular distance and ASIA score (P < 0.001). And correlation coefficient with a value of 0.807 indicates a very strong positive correlation between spinal canal narrowing and ASIA score (P < 0.001). It was concluded that the wider the interpedicular distance, and the narrower the spinal canal, in thoracolumbar burst fracture patients, the more the patients neurological status will decrease.  

Interpedicular distance

Thoracolumbar

Burst fracture

Neurologic deficit

Spinal canal narrowing