In 139 patients with burst fractures of the thoracic, thoracolumbar or lumbar spine, the least sagittal diameter of the spinal canal at the level of injury was measured by computerised tomography. By multiple logistic regression we investigated thejoint correlation of the level of the burst fracture and the percentage of spinal canal stenosis with the probability of an associated neurological deficit. There was a very significant correlation between neurological deficit and the percentage of

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... nal canal stenosis; the higher the level of injury the greater was the probability. The severity of neurological deficit could not be predicted.