A 3 to 4 year follow-up was performed on a consecutive series of 28 patients who had three-column spinal fractures surgically stabilized by short-segment instrumentation with first generation VSP (Steffee) screws and plates and autograft fusion. The follow-up revealed 10 patients with broken screws. Retrospective examination of preoperative radiographs and computed tomographic axial and sagittal reconstruction images clearly demonstrated that the screw fractures all occurred in patients with a disproportionately greater amount of injury to the vertebral body. A point system (the load sharing classification) was developed that grades: 1) the amount of damaged vertebral body, 2) the spread of the fragments in the fracture site, and 3) the amount of corrected traumatic kyphosis. This point system can be used preoperatively to: 1) predict screw breakage when short segment, posteriorly placed pedicle screw implants are being used, 2) describe any spinal injury for retrospective studies, or 3) select spinal fractures for anterior reconstruction with strut graft, short-segment-type reconstruction.