Kyphoplasty

The Kyphotic Spine

Each year about 700,000 people with osteoporosis develop vertebral compression fractures, where a crack in the spine causes one or more vertebrae to collapse. While osteoporosis, which causes brittle bones, is the most common cause of compression fractures, they also may occur due to trauma or tumors.

Compression fractures represent a unique spine problem because they are common, take a long time to heal and usually cause persistent pain and prolonged disability. Left untreated in patients with osteoporosis, compression fractures can lead to stooped posture, loss of movement, blood clots in veins and extreme muscle weakness.

Sometimes compression fractures respond to bed rest, pain medications and external braces. If these measures provide less than adequate results, your doctor may recommend other measures, such as steroid injections directly into the spine or major surgery. Traditionally, surgery for compression fractures required invasive procedures, a prolonged recovery and a high rate of failure due to weak underlying bone. However, your physician may offer a better alternative: a minimally invasive procedure called kyphoplasty (a form of vertebroplasty).

What is Kyphoplasty?

Kyphoplasty stabilizes fractures or strengthens areas weakened by osteoporosis, trauma or tumor by inserting a balloon filled with a cement-like substance into the affected vertebrae. About 90 percent of patients report immediate relief of back pain after kyphoplasty. Most return to their normal activities within two days.

Candidates for Kyphoplasty

Our physicians highly recommend that patients with osteoporosis and compression fractures of the spine be evaluated immediately for kyphoplasty. Do not wait to see if the fracture will heal on its own. The damage could become permanent.

Other patients who may benefit from kyphoplasty are those whose compression fractures are less than a year old, have metabolic disorders or have had prolonged steroid therapy. Kyphoplasty is inappropriate for arthritis-related pain, degenerative disk disease or ruptured disks.

Performing Kyphoplasty Surgery

During kyphoplasty surgery, a small incision is made in the back through which the doctor places a narrow tube. Using fluoroscopy to guide it to the correct position, the tube creates a path through the back into the fractured area through the pedicle of the involved vertebrae.

Using X-ray images, the doctor inserts a special balloon through the tube and into the vertebrae, then gently, and carefully, inflates it. As the balloon inflates, it elevates the fracture, returning the pieces to a more normal position. It also compacts the soft inner bone to create a cavity inside the vertebrae.

The balloon is removed and the doctor uses specially designed instruments under low pressure to fill the cavity with a cement-like material called polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). After being injected, the pasty material hardens quickly, stabilizing the bone.