Recently vvith the advent of Computer assisted tomography and critical classification of the neurological injuries associated with thoracolumbar fractures, more emphasis has been rightly placed on neural compression by fragments of bone and disc and their relationship to ultimate neurological recovery.
The aim'of this study is the assessment of the relationship between the neurological deficit, level and type of the fracture and canal encroachment.
Between 1990 and 1996. 110 patients surgically treated in Dokuz Eylül University Medical Faculty Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology were included into this study. The patients' ages ranged from ten to sixty-eighth, mean 36 years. Male-female ratio was 1.5. The level of the injury, type of the fracture, canal encroachment and the neurological status were determined for each patient. A personal Computer (PC) was used to analyse the data gathered from the patients' charts, Pearson correlation had been applied.
The most frequently fractured level was L1. Neurological compromise occured more frequently at the upper levels and there is a signlficant correlation between the canal eneroachment and neurological compromise. There is no signlficant correlation betvveen the type and the level of the fracture.
As a result, there vvas a significant correlation between neurological compromise, fracture type and amount of canal encroachment.
Keywords: Spinal fracture, spinal canal narrovving, neuroiogic deficit, computerized tomography