Midwest Spine & Brain Institute congratulates Dr. Glenn Buttermann for another “lead” article in the prestigious Journal of Bone Joint Surgery. The article, titled “Operative Compared with Nonoperative Treatment of a Thoracolumbar Burst Fracture without Neurological Deficit,” details the highest level-1 clinical study of trauma patients with a 15 to 20 year follow-up. The study found that patients randomized to bracing had better results than surgical patients for thoracolumbar burst fractures if there was no nerve injury.
Forty-seven patients were randomized to one of two groups: operative treatment (twenty-four patients) and nonoperative treatment (twenty-three patients). This investigation is, to the knowledge of the researchers, the first prospective andomized study to compare operative and nonoperative treatment of neurologically intact patients with a burst fracture of the thoracolumbar junction (T10 to L2) with a substantial long-term follow-up (sixteen to twenty-two years). J Bone Joint Surg Am, 2015 Jan 07; 97 (1): 3 -9 . http://dx.doi.org/10.2106/JBJS.N.00226
Glenn R. Buttermann, M.D., M.S., F.A.A.O.S., of Midwest Spine & Brain Institute, has been at the forefront of back pain research, motion preservation techniques and surgical device development.
Researchers: Glenn R. Buttermann, MD, Kirkham B. Wood, MD, Rishabh Phukan, BA, Christopher C. Harrod, MD, Amir Mehbod, MD, Brian Shannon, MD, Christopher M. Bono, MD, and Mitchel B. Harris, MD
