LOADING
Vertebral Compression Fracture is rated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs under DC 5235 of 38 CFR § 4.71a, DC 5235 across 6 severity tiers (10% / 20% / 30% / 40% / 50%…). Service connection requires (1) a current diagnosis, (2) an in-service event, injury, or exposure, and (3) a medical nexus opinion linking the two under 38 C.F.R. § 3.303.
A vertebral compression fracture is a collapse of the anterior portion of a vertebral body, most often in the thoracolumbar spine, that reduces vertebral height and can produce kyphotic (wedge) deformity. In veterans it commonly results from acute axial-loading trauma (falls, parachute landings, vehicle or blast events) or from osteoporotic or pathologic weakening of bone. Symptoms range from acute focal back pain and reduced mobility to chronic mechanical pain, postural change, and, when the fracture retropulses bone or compromises the canal, neurologic deficits such as radiculopathy.
Rating criteria reference 38 C.F.R. Part 4 (Schedule for Rating Disabilities). This entry has not yet undergone editorial review against the live regulation text — consult the authoritative source directly before relying on the criteria shown.