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Intervertebral Disc Abnormalities on MRI in Thoracolumbar High-Energy and Fragility Fractures Treated With the SpineJack®-System: A Secondary Analysis of a Single-Centre Cohort

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Study DesignRetrospective secondary analysis.ObjectivesTo describe the frequency of concomitant disc abnormality on preoperative MRI in SpineJack®-treated thoracolumbar fractures and its association with fracture type and clinical parameters.MethodsFrom our published SpineJack® cohort (310 fractures, 2014-2022), 204 fractures in 176 patients with preoperative MRI were analyzed. Discs were graded (Sander et al.) by two readers independently, then by consensus; fractures by AOSpine or OF type. Analyses used exact tests, Spearman correlation and Firth logistic regression; the OVF-versus-VCF comparison was adjusted for age and sex. Other analyses were exploratory.Results119 fractures (58.3%) were OVFs (mean age 72.5 years) and 85 were VCFs (50.0 years). Superior, inferior and combined disc abnormality occurred in 68.1%, 58.3% and 53.9%. Superior abnormality was more frequent in OVFs than VCFs (73.9% vs 60.0%; crude OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.04-3.44), but not after adjustment (OR 1.29, 0.57-2.91). AOSpine type correlated with inferior disc grade in VCFs (ρ=0.247, p=0.023); OF type did not correlate with disc grade. Exploratory: higher inferior disc grade was associated with neurological deficit (7 events; OR per grade 1.93, 1.01-4.18) and less cement leakage (OR 0.59, 0.36-0.90).ConclusionsDisc abnormality is frequent in SpineJack®-treated thoracolumbar fractures. The higher frequency in OVFs is largely explained by age. Associations with neurological deficit and cement leakage are exploratory. Fracture classification alone does not predict disc abnormality severity.

Source: Global Spine Journal

DOI: 10.1177/21925682261505813

Authors: Julian Scherer, Magdalena Karner, Georg Osterhoff, Kai Sprengel, Hans-Christoph Pape