BACKGROUND: Denis B thoracolumbar burst fractures are common spinal injury and may be involved in the upper end plate injury. Fracture reduction and pedicle screw fixation are used to repair above injury. This scheme can effectively achieve the aim of correcting deformity, but the trabecular bone after crushing cannot be fully recovered.
OBJECTIVE: To observe the repair effect of fracture reduction and pedicle screw fixation + artificial bone graft in vertebral body on Denis B thoracolumbar burst fracture, and compare with fracture reduction and pedicle screw fixation alone. 
METHODS: Clinical data of 70 cases of Denis B thoracolumbar burst fractures, who were treated in the Department of Orthopedics, Zhangjiagang Aoyang Hospital from January 2012 to December 2014, were retrospectively analyzed. According to repair scheme, they were equally divided into two groups. Patients in the control group received fracture reduction and pedicle screw fixation. Patients in the observation group received fracture reduction and pedicle screw fixation + artificial bone graft in vertebral body. Oswsetry Disability Index, height of anterior border of injured vertebral body, lower back pain visual analogue scale and vertebral kyphosis Cobb’s angle were compared and observed between the two groups before repair, 1 week, 3 and 6 months after repair.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: No significant difference in Visual Analogue Scale was detected at 1 week, 3 and 6 months after repair between the observation and control groups (P > 0.05). Oswsetry Disability Index was significantly lower in the observation group than in the control group (P < 0.05). No significant difference in the height of anterior border of injured vertebral body was detected between the observation and control groups (P > 0.05). Cobb’s angle was significantly lower in the observation group than in the control group (P < 0.05). These findings suggest that fracture reduction and pedicle screw fixation + artificial bone graft in vertebral body obtained good repair effects on Denis B thoracolumbar burst fracture, not only effectively corrected Cobb’s angle and the height of anterior border of injured vertebral body, but also helped to restore normal spinal loads by filling bone in the injured vertebral body.