Distant pain after thoracolumbar compressive fracture

OBJECTIVE: To retrospectively analyze the causes and treatment of distant pain after thoracolumbar compressive fracture. METHODS: The investigators retrospectively analyzed 14 cases of thoracolumbar compressive fracture with distant pain, observed the pain region and its relationship with thoracolumbar compressive fracture and administered the treatment of pain. RESULTS: There were 14 cases of thoracolumbar compressive fracture with lumbar sacral pain whose painful region were located in paravertebral muscles (n = 6), near iliac crest (n = 5) and in hypochondrium (n = 3). Five and 7 cases of pain disappeared after vertebroplasty and local injection respectively and 2 cases were relieved with analgesics. Eighteen patients with thoracolumbar vertebrae fractures (T11-L2) were fixed with short segment pedical screw fixation, the instrumentation removed at 1 year post-operation and their Cobb's angle and trauma vertebra height measured from 0.5 - 2 years after instrumentation removal. CONCLUSION: The cause of distant pain after thoracolumbar compressive fracture maybe be related with radiating pain resulting from irritated nerves in the vertebral fracture region or distant soft tissue pain. A timely pain treatment can relieve the patients' symptoms.