What to do if you have a lumbar compression fracture?

Lumbar disease is very distressing, and lumbar compression fracture is also a type of lumbar disease. Lumbar compression fractures are associated with significant pain. For this situation, treatment is multi-faceted. Patients with lumbar compression fractures should also pay attention to rest. In addition to conventional treatment, recuperation is still the main focus.

1. Simple thoracolumbar compression fractures are mostly stable fractures with no symptoms of neurological damage. A few vertebrae are severely wedge-shaped, and the attachments at the back of the spine, namely the vertebral arch, may have tension injuries, which manifests as unstable fractures. During the acute phase, the patient needs to lie flat on a hard bed and turn over in a balanced manner. That is, the caregiver holds the patient's shoulders and hips and rolls the patient over to avoid twisting of the trunk, and the patient cooperates by tightening the trunk muscles.

2. After a fracture, retroperitoneal hematoma often stimulates the visceral nerves, causing intestinal motility disorders, abdominal distension and pain. After injury, it is often necessary to fast and receive fluid support, and gradually drink water and eat depending on the recovery of bowel sounds.

3. After the pain is relieved and the abdominal distension subsides, you can perform position reduction under the guidance of a doctor according to the degree of fracture compression. For example, you can gradually place pillows on the back of the injured vertebra, use this as a fulcrum, and use the gravity of the trunk to keep the spine extended, so as to stretch the wedge-shaped compressed vertebrae, improve and correct the deformity, and thus reduce the fracture. A chest and back brace is required when standing and walking.

4. Turn the patient over regularly, pat and massage the back, encourage the patient to cough and expectorate, keep the skin clean and dry, and prevent lung infections and bedsores. For a few unstable fractures, open reduction and internal fixation can be performed.

5. For fresh fractures of osteoporosis in the elderly, body position reduction can be performed under the guidance of X-ray CT, and bone cement can be injected into the fracture gap of the injured vertebra. Alternatively, an air bag can be injected first, and then bone cement can be injected after expansion to expand the compressed vertebra, thereby strengthening the injured vertebra and preventing further collapse of the vertebra. As the injured vertebra stabilizes, the patient's pain will be relieved and eliminated.