Successful Management by Posterior Approach Only of a Highly Comminuted L4 Fracture with 8 Years of Follow-up: A Case Report

Case: A 28-year old male patient was involved in a RTA and sustained a highly comminuted L4 burst fracture with more than 90% canal compromise.Considering the complete loss of power in the respective myotomes but the preservation of sacral sparing there were controversially different surgical options. We successfully performed a posterior only surgical procedure, which applied a modified transpedicle access technique to decompress the spinal canal and to restore the anterior column, achieving full neurological recovery at the final follow-up.

Conclusion: A well-planned and executed posterior surgery alone can achieve excellent clinical and radiological result in the treatment of severely comminuted lumbar fractures.