Dynamically Access A Column In A Table

I'm trying to create a procedure that can access a column in a table dynamically.<br>
Lets say I have the following table<br>
create table table_items<br>
(rec int identity not null,<br>
item1 int,<br>
item2 int,<br>
item3 int)<br>

and I have a procedure as such

create procedure access_item<br>
@rec int,<br>
@itemindex int,<br>
@item int as<br>
select @item = (select item1 from table_items where rec = @rec)<br>

However, the column I want to access is @itemindex.<br>
If @itemindex = 1, then set @item to item1<br>
if @itemindex = 2, then set @item to item2<br>
if @itemindex = 3, then set @item to item3<br>

I can't use a simple 'if/then' selection, because the number of columns in the table can grow, and I don't want to have to rewrite the procedure everytime a column is added.<br>
How do I do this?<br>

I tried to use an execute command, as such<br>

create procedure access_item_2<br>
@rec int,<br>
@itemindex int,<br>
@item int as<br>
declare @sql varchar(255)<br>
select @sql = "select @item = (select item" + convert(varchar(2), itemindex) + " from table_items where rec = @rec)"<br>
execute (@sql)<br>

but when the procedure runs, I get the following error:<br>
'@item is not a valid variable.'<br>

What else can I do?<br>

Please e-mail me at sam@microcsl