The efficacy of thoracolumbar distraction brace in the early rehabilitation of spinal cord injury with X-ray tomography

Objective:To evaluate the clinical efficacy of thoracolumbar distraction brace in the early rehabilitation of spinal cord injury(SCI) with X-ray tomography. Method:Twenty-five cases with spinal fracture and SCI were treated with thoracolumbar distraction brace at the 3rd—4th week post-operation.All the patients were assessed with X-ray technique in the following three conditions:a,patients without distraction brace in decubitus position(nobrace-0°) .b,patients wearing distraction brace in decubitus position(brace-0°) .c,patients wearing distraction brace in upright position(brace-90°) .The pressure of the brace was 150N.The height from the anterior(posterior) inferior border of normal centrum vertebrae over the fractured one to the anterior(posterior) superior border of normal centrum vertebrae beneath the fractured one were measured. Result:The heights of anterior border of fractured vertebrae in three different conditions were 118.257±13.524mm、 121.414±12.879mm、119.237±12.527mm,respectively,and the difference was significant(P0.01) .The"brace-0°" exhibited significantly higher anterior border compared with other two conditions(P0.01) .While,there was no difference between"nobrace-0°"and"brace-90°"(P0.05) .There was no significant difference in the heights of posterior border of fractured vertebrae between the three conditions(P0.05) .Conclusion:The thoracolumbar distraction brace can reduce the pressure of their own body weight on the fractured vertebrae as well as the internal fixation device in vertebral posterior,thus enhance the stability of damaged spinal column.Accordingly,in the premise of guaranteeing security,patients should begin seated training and upright training as soon as possible.