Adjacent-level vertebral body fractures after expandable cage reconstruction

Dean Chou; Daniel C Lu; Philip Weinstein; Christopher P Ames

doi:10.3171/SPI/2008/8/6/584

Adjacent-level vertebral body fractures after expandable cage reconstruction

J Neurosurg Spine. 2008 Jun;8(6):584-8. doi: 10.3171/SPI/2008/8/6/584.

Authors

Dean Chou¹, Daniel C Lu, Philip Weinstein, Christopher P Ames

Affiliation

¹ Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, California 94143-0112, USA. [email protected]

PMID: 18518682
DOI: 10.3171/SPI/2008/8/6/584

Abstract

Expandable cages are frequently used to reconstruct the anterior spinal column after a corpectomy. The forces that are used to expand these cages can be large, depending upon the mechanism of expansion. To the authors' knowledge, there have been no reports of adjacent-level vertebral body fracture after placement of expandable cages. The authors report 4 cases of adjacent-level vertebral body fractures after placement of expandable cages. This study found that the fracture pattern in the coronal plane was similar in all cases.

Publication types

Case Reports

MeSH terms

Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Bone Plates
Cervical Vertebrae / injuries*
Cervical Vertebrae / surgery
Equipment Failure
Female
Fractures, Compression / surgery
Humans
Internal Fixators / adverse effects*
Lumbar Vertebrae / injuries*
Lumbar Vertebrae / surgery
Male
Middle Aged
Orthopedic Procedures / adverse effects
Orthopedic Procedures / instrumentation*
Plastic Surgery Procedures / adverse effects
Plastic Surgery Procedures / instrumentation
Postoperative Complications
Reoperation
Spinal Fractures / etiology*
Spinal Fusion / adverse effects
Spinal Fusion / instrumentation