Twenty-five patients, who did not have osteoporosis and who were between
the ages of seventeen and sixty years, were treated for one or more stable
compression fractures of a vertebra with compaction of less than 50 per
cent and without an associated neurological deficit. The patients were
followed for a minimum of nine years. Associated vertebral fractures (12
per cent) were identified during the first three months after the injury,
but no deformity progressed after three months. Radiographic changes of
degenerative disc disease were evident in eight patients, but the changes
did not correlate with symptoms or with level of activity. With one
exception, all patients functioned as well as uninjured subjects of
comparable age. Patients who have a compression fracture of a vertebra
should have serial radiographs made for at least three months to ensure
that all fractured vertebrae are identified and to document any progression
of deformity.