Kyphoplasty

About Kyphoplasty

Kyphoplasty is a minimally invasive procedure for painful vertebral compression fractures, which most often result from osteoporosis and sometimes from tumors affecting the spine. Under fluoroscopic guidance, a needle is passed through the skin into the collapsed vertebral body, a balloon is inflated to create a cavity and partially restore height, and the balloon is removed before the space is filled with bone cement that hardens to stabilize the fracture. The closely related procedure vertebroplasty injects cement without the balloon step. Both are usually performed through small skin punctures under local anesthesia with sedation or under general anesthesia, by spine surgeons or interventional radiologists. The procedures are offered to selected patients whose pain persists despite conservative care. Evidence regarding their benefit has been debated, as some sham controlled trials of vertebroplasty found smaller differences than earlier uncontrolled studies, and professional guidelines differ on which patients should be offered them. Assessment and treatment of underlying osteoporosis is an important part of care after a fragility fracture.