There is uncertainty about whether surgical or conservative management is best for stable fractures and whether a randomised controlled trial would be feasible. This study concluded that a full trial is unlikely to be feasible mainly owing to the low proportion of patients eligible.
There is informal consensus that simple compression fractures of the body of the thoracolumbar vertebrae without neurological complications can be managed conservatively and that obvious unstable fractures require surgical fixation. However, there is a zone of uncertainty about whether surgical or conservative management is best for stable fractures.
We carried out a feasibility randomised controlled trial using block randomisation, stratified by centre and type of injury (high- or low-energy trauma) to allocate participants 1 : 1 to surgery or conservative treatment. We also undertook a costing analysis; a national survey of spine surgeons; and a qualitative study with clinicians, recruiting staff and patients. Surgical fixation involved open spinal surgery (with or without spinal fusion) or minimally invasive stabilisation surgery. Conservative management involved mobilisation with or without a brace.
Adults aged 16 years and above with a high- or low-energy fracture of the body of a thoracolumbar vertebra between the 10th thoracic vertebra and the second lumbar vertebra, confirmed by imaging and meeting other inclusion criteria were recruited at three NHS hospitals.
A definitive trial is unlikely to be feasible currently, mainly because of the small number of patients meeting the eligibility criteria: of 211 patients screened, 28 met the criteria. The recruitment and follow-up rates were slightly lower than anticipated; however, there is room to increase these based on information gathered and the support within the surgical community for a future trial.
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Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, UK
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough TS4 3BW, North Yorkshire, UK
Bart’s Health NHS Trust, The Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel Road, London, E1 1BB, UK
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds General Infirmary, Leeds, LS1 3EX, West Yorkshire, UK
Cardiff & Vale University Health Board, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, CF14 4XW, Wales, UK
The research was funded by National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme (NIHR HTA) project no. 15/154/07. The project was started in September 2017 and completed in September 2019.
The trial is registered with the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Register ISRCTN12094890.