| Abstract: | Analysis of the pathoanatomical charac-teristics of late cases of thoracolumbar fracture-dislocation complicated by paraplegia indicatesthat the bony compressing structure over theanterior aspect of the vertebral canal is themain obstacle to continual recovery. We diviseda new ,technique, subtotal cricumferential de-compression, by which the lateral, posterior andanterior aspects of the vertebral canal can beapproached, and a complete decompression canbe accomplished in one sta.ge. We treated 86patients in this way. Of these, 64 were followedup for 2 years or more including 55 wiith in-complete paraplegia. The effective rate was86/0. No effect was o;bserved in 7 patients withcomplete paraplegia caused by transection of thespinal cord. With wide range decompression,injury was minimal, disturbance to the stabilityof the vertebral column was least, and the oper-ative results were good. |
