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ASAN Medical Center has announced that a recent study led by Professor Park Jin-hoon from the Department of Neurosurgery has shown effective results using the 'Minimal Segmental Fixation Technique' for patients with thoracolumbar burst fractures. This technique, which minimizes the number of vertebrae fixed to preserve as much natural movement of the spine as possible, effectively corrects kyphosis caused by the fractures.
Traditional surgical methods fixed a total of five vertebrae, using eight screws, significantly limiting spinal mobility. In contrast, the 'Minimal Segmental Fixation Technique' involves fixing only three vertebrae, using five screws, reducing the extent of motion restriction.
From 2018 to 2022, Park’s research team applied this minimal fixation method to ten patients with traumatic thoracolumbar burst fractures and analyzed changes in the Cobb angle immediately before surgery, immediately after, and one year later.
The results showed a significant correction in spinal alignment: the average pre-surgery Cobb angle was approximately -11.6 degrees, demonstrating severe kyphosis, which improved to about 11.4 degrees immediately post-surgery and stabilized around 4.8 degrees one year later.
The study suggests it takes about a year for the spine to naturally realign properly after surgery using this method.
Professor Park Jin-hoon noted, "We have previously published the effectiveness of the Minimal Segmental Fixation Technique in patients with metastatic spinal cancer. We are committed to preserving the patients' joint mobility as much as possible in treating all spinal conditions." He added that removing a portion of the vertebral body to relieve pressure from bone fragments, followed by inserting artificial bone, allows for an even more practical application of this technique.
This study's findings have been published in the international journal, World Neurosurgery (Impact Factor=2.0).
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