Multicenter External Validation of the Accuracy of Computed Tomography Criteria for Detecting Thoracolumbar Posterior Ligamentous Complex Injury.

Background And Objective: Recent studies have proposed computed tomography (CT) criteria for posterior ligamentous complex (PLC) injury: disrupted if ≥2 CT findings, indeterminate if single finding, and intact if 0 CT findings. The study aims to validate the CT criteria for PLC injury externally.

Methods: Three level 1 trauma centers enrolled 614 consecutive patients with acute thoracolumbar fractures (T1-L5) who received CT and MRI.

Traumatic thoracic spine fracture: can we predict when MRI would modify the fracture classification or decision-making compared to CT alone?

Purpose: To determine the impact of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on fracture classification for thoracic spine fractures (TSFs) compared to computed tomography (CT) alone.

Methods: This study was a retrospective review of 63 consecutive patients with TSFs who underwent CT and MRI within ten days of injury. Three reviewers classified all fractures according to the AOSpine Classification and the Thoracolumbar AOSpine Injury severity score (TLAOSIS).