Kyphoplasty and Vertebroplasty in Croatia

Spine Surgery CroatiaBlok Vladimira Nazora 632100 VinkovciCroatia

Cell: +385958056797Mail: [email protected]

Spine-Surgery-Croatia.com - 1 -

Kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty

Osteoporosis, a disease that gradually weakens bones and causes them to become brittle,

affects an estimated 10 million Americans, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation.1Left untreated, osteoporosis can progress painlessly until a bone breaks. Along with hip and wristfractures, severe osteoporosis can cause compression fractures in the spine. This occurs when thebony block, or vertebral body, in the spine collapses. This causes severe pain, deformity, and lossof height. It can also lead to nerve compression. Compression fractures occur in more than700,000 patients per year in the United States, are more frequent than hip fractures, and oftenresult in prolonged disability. Until recently, doctors were limited in how they could treatosteoporosis-related spine fractures. Pain medications, bed rest, bracing or invasive spinal surgerywere the only options available. Today there are two promising therapeutic and preventivetreatments for compression fractures. They are called vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty.

VertebroplastyVertebroplasty was originally developed in France in 1986 and has been further refined andavailable in the US since 1991. Vertebroplasty is a minimally invasive, non-surgical procedure thatis designed to relieve the pain of compression fractures. Vertebroplasty literally means fixing thevertebral body. In addition to relieving pain, those vertebral bodies that are weakened but not yetfractured can be strengthened, thus preventing future problems.

mailto:[email protected]




How is Vertebroplasty Performed?Under general anesthesia, or sometimes under sedation, a special bone needle is passed slowlythrough the soft tissues of the back. Image guided x-ray, along with a small amount of x-ray dye,allows the position of the needle to be seen at all times. A small amount of orthopaedic cement,called polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), is pushed through the needle into the vertebral body.PMMA is a medical grade bone cement that has been used for many years in a variety oforthopaedic procedures.

The cement is sometimes mixed with an antibiotic to reduce the risk of infection, and a powdercontaining barium or tantalum, which allows it to be seen on the x-ray. When the cement isinjected, it is like a thick paste, but it hardens rapidly. Usually each vertebral body is injected onboth the right and left sides, just off the midline of the back. Within a few hours, patients are up andmoving around. Most go home the same day.

KyphoplastyKyphoplasty is a newer treatment for patients immobilized by the painful vertebral bodycompression fractures associated with osteoporosis. Like vertebroplasty, kyphoplasty is aminimally invasive procedure that can alleviate up to 90% of the pain caused by compressionfractures. In addition to relieving pain, kyphoplasty can also stabilize the fracture, restore height,and reduce deformity.





How is Kyphoplasty Performed?Kyphoplasty is performed under local or general anesthesia. Using image guidance x-rays, twosmall incisions are made and a probe is placed into the vertebral space where the fracture islocated. The bone is drilled and a balloon, called a bone tamp, is inserted on each side. Theseballoons are then inflated with contrast medium (to be seen using image guidance x-rays) until theyexpand to the desired height and removed. The balloon does not remain in the patient. It simplycreates a cavity for the cement and also helps expand the compressed bone. The spaces createdby the balloons are then filled with PMMA, the same orthopaedic cement used in vertebroplasty,binding the fracture. The cement hardens quickly, providing strength and stability to the vertebra,restoring height, and relieving pain.

Benefits of Vertebroplasty and KyphoplastyLimitations in the traditional treatments of vertebral compression fractures have led to therefinement of such procedures as vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty. These procedures provide newoptions for compression fractures and are designed to relieve pain, reduce and stabilize fractures,reduce spinal deformity, and stop the “downward spiral” of untreated osteoporosis.

Additional benefits of these procedures include: Short surgical time Only general or local anesthesia required Average hospital stay is one day (or less) Patients can quickly return to the normal activities of daily living

Both vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty utilize a cement-like material that is injected directly into thefractured bone. This stabilizes the fracture and provides immediate pain relief, in many cases.Kyphoplasty has the additional advantage of being able to restore height to the spine, thusreducing deformity. After either procedure, most patients quickly return to their normal dailyactivities. While vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty are encouraging developments, it remainsessential that osteoporosis sufferers seek medical help and learn about ways to treat theircondition, as well as ways to prevent future problems.


Health & Medicine

Kyphoplasty and Vertebroplasty in Croatia