Comparison of Hidden Blood Loss Between Three Different Surgical Approaches for Treatment of Thoracolumbar Fracture

ABSTRACTPurpose: To examine the hidden blood loss (HBL) in treatment of AO type A1-A3 thoracolumbar fractures with three different approaches and to explore the influential factors of HBL among patients after the surgery of internal fixation for thoracolumbar fractures. Methods: We retrospectively studied 85 patients in treatment of thoracolumbar fractures: 25 patients via percutaneous approach (Group A), 33 patients via paraspinal approach (Group B), and 27 patients via conventional open approach (Group C). The demographic information of the patients was collected. Each patient's preoperative and postoperative hematocrit were recorded and used for calculating the blood loss according to the Gross's formula. The difference of blood loss between the three groups was measured by ANOVA. And influential factors were further analyzed by multivariate linear regression analysis in each group. Results: The average HBL was 240.0 ± 65.1 mL in Group A, 313.7 ± 138.1 mL in Group B, and 382 ± 153.8 mL in Group C. Ther...