Comparison of patient, injury, and treatment characteristics by treatment group.
| Variable | Operative (n = 14) | Nonoperative (n = 13) | P |
| Age, y | 34.4 (12.7) | 31.2 (13.9) | 0.538 |
| Body mass index | 27.7 (5.6) | 27.9 (6) | 0.956 |
| Sex | |||
| Men | 5 (36%) | 3 (23%) | 0.678 |
| Women | 9 (64%) | 10 (77%) | |
| Tobacco use statusa | |||
| Nonsmoker | 5 (38%) | 6 (50%) | 0.695 |
| Active smoker | 8 (62%) | 6 (50%) | |
| Diabetes | 1 (7%) | 3 (23%) | 0.326 |
| High energy mechanism of injury | 14 (100%) | 12 (92%) | 0.482 |
| Intra-abdominal injury | 3 (21%) | 2 (15%) | >0.99 |
| Laparotomy | 0 (0%) | 1 (8%) | 0.482 |
| Location | |||
| Mid-thoracic (T6–9) | 1 (7%) | 0 (0%) | 0.206 |
| Low-thoracic (T10–1) | 1 (7%) | 5 (38%) | |
| Thoracolumbar junction (T12–L1) | 7 (50%) | 6 (46%) | |
| Upper lumbar (L2–3) | 2 (14%) | 0 (0%) | |
| Lower lumbar (L4–5) | 3 (21%) | 2 (15%) | |
| Concomitant injuries | |||
| Extremity fractures | 4 (29%) | 3 (23%) | |
| Axial fractures | 8 (57%) | 5 (38%) | |
| Sternal fractures | 1 (7%) | 1 (7%) | |
| Head injuries | 4 (29%) | 6 (46%) |
Note: Data presented as mean (SD) for continuous variables and n (%) for categorical variables.
↵a Smoker status was missing for 1 patient in each cohort.