Thoracolumbar Injury Classification & Severity (TLICS)
Thoracolumbar Injury Classification and Severity Score (TLICS, 0–10) from injury morphology, neurologic status, and posterior-ligamentous-complex integrity; triage ≤ 3 / 4 / ≥ 5.
Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.
Example
- Injury morphology
- Compression (1)
- Neurologic status
- Nerve root (2)
- Posterior ligamentous complex
- Indeterminate / suspected injury (2)
Result: TLICS 5/10 — operative management (≥ 5).
The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.
What the result means
- Categories
- morphology (compression 1 / burst 2 / translational 3 / distraction 4), neurology (intact 0 / root 2 / complete cord 2 / incomplete cord 3 / cauda equina 3), and PLC (0–3) sum to 0–10.
- Triage
- ≤ 3 nonoperative, 4 indeterminate (surgeon’s discretion), ≥ 5 operative. Incomplete cord (3) scores higher than complete (2) by design.
What you enter
- Injury morphology
- Neurologic status
- Posterior ligamentous complex
How this is calculated
Vaccaro AR, Lehman RA Jr, Hurlbert RJ, et al. A new classification of thoracolumbar injuries: the importance of injury morphology, the integrity of the posterior ligamentous complex, and neurologic status. Spine. 2005;30(20):2325-2333. Read the source ↗
A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.