Association of clinical parameters of operatively treated thoracolumbar fractures with quality of life parameters

Ulrich Thormann, Hans-Josef Erli, Marc Brügmann, Gabor Szalay, Gudrun Schlewitz, Hans-Christoph Pape, Reinhard Schnettler, Volker Alt

October 2013, Volume 22, Issue 10, pp 2202 - 2210 Original Article Read Full Article

First Online: 07 May 2013

Purpose

The intention of the current work was to assess the association between clinical parameters and seven different quality of life (QoL) instruments after surgical treatment of thoracolumbar spinal fractures after an average follow-up of 4.2 years.

Methods

The following human-related quality of life and PRO measures of 66 patients were correlated to clinical parameters such as fingertip-to-floor distance (FFD), Schober measurement, pressure and percussion pain in the lumbopelvine area (PPP), and paravertebral muscle tension: reALOS, SF-36, VAS, VAS spine score, BDI, the GBB-24, and the IES-R.

Results

Overall, there was a significant association between the clinical parameters of the thoracolumbar spine such as PPP, paravertebral muscle tension, FFD and Schober’s sign on one side, and the seven tested instruments on the other side.

Conclusions

PPP and FFD as well as a small Schober measurement are clinical parameters which significantly influence QoL after surgical treatment of thoracolumbar fractures.

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