Beyond Alleviating Pain – Benefits of Treatments of Vertebral Compression Fractures
European Musculoskeletal Review, 2012;7(1):43-8
Abstract
Vertebral compression fractures are common in the elderly population and are associated with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Several treatments have been developed to reduce pain, improve function and quality of life and increase survival, including vertebroplasty (VP), non-surgical management (NSM) and, most recently, balloon kyphoplasty (BKP). The clinical value and safety of both VP and BKP have been well established in large and well-conducted trials. Furthermore, evidence from systematic reviews and case studies has shown that BKP offers a better safety profile compared with both VP and NSM. This article is a summary of a satellite symposium sponsored by Medtronic entitled ‘Beyond Alleviating Pain: Benefits of Treatments of Vertebral Compression Fractures’ held at the EuroSpine Congress on 20 October 2011 in Milan. The symposium was chaired by Professor Charles Court and consisted of three talks by leading experts in vertebral compression fractures, reviewing the latest BKP clinical trial data and the theory and reality of fracture reduction and sharing their experience using BKP.
Support: The publication of this article was supported by Medtronic. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of Medtronic.
Keywords
Balloon kyphoplasty, vertebroplasty, compression fracture, kyphosis
Balloon kyphoplasty, vertebroplasty, compression fracture, kyphosis
Disclosure
Ida Deleskog Lindstrom is an employee at Touch Briefings.
Received:
December 08, 2011 Accepted
January 20, 2012
Correspondence:
Ida Deleskog, Touch Briefings, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London, EC1N 8TS, UK. E: ida.lindstrom@touchbriefings.com
Charles Court, Paris, France
The first Kyphon® balloon kyphoplasty (BKP) prototype was developed in 1991 and gained US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in 1998 before expanding into Europe at the start of this century. To date, around 900,000 vertebral fractures have been treated using BKP. The most common indication for BKP is osteoporotic fracture and initially the goals of treatment were to alleviate pain, restore anatomy and preserve function. Increasingly, avoiding consequences of vertebral compression fractures (VCFs), such as new adjacent fractures due to force transmission in kyphosis or sagittal imbalance and the resulting impact on quality of life (QoL), due in part to impaired mobility, has also become a priority for VCF treatment. BKP is also used for VCFs in cancer patients and for traumatic VCFs. Combining BKP with percutaneous fixation in specific cases allows treatment of unstable fractures. Moreover, it has now become clear that there is a survival benefit from operating on patients with VCFs.
After about ten years of performing BKP, a new-generation balloon, the Xpanderâ„¢ II, has become available. This new device has a better inflation pattern within the vertebrae and also has more cavity-creation and lift-force potential. Thus, it is timely to review progress in understanding and experience of VCFs and their treatment using BKP.
This article is a summary of a satellite symposium held at the EuroSpine Congress in Milan on 20 October 2011, entitled ‘Beyond Alleviating Pain: Benefits of Treatments of Vertebral Compression Fractures’. The symposium was chaired by Professor Court and consisted of three talks by leading experts in the field of VCF. In the first presentation Dr Van Meirhaeghe reviewed studies that have yielded important data on BKP in recent years. Dr Stavros then discussed the theory and reality of fracture reduction and finally Dr La Maida shared some of his 10 years’ experience using BKP.
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Keywords:
Balloon kyphoplasty, vertebroplasty, compression fracture, kyphosis, kyphoplasty procedure, vertebrae compression fracture, compressed vertebrae
