The morbidity in adult scoliosis surgery is minimized with less invasive techniques. The rate of major complications in this study (12.1%) compares favorably to that reported from other studies of surgery for degenerative deformity.
The findings showed less vascular and transcortical extravasation of injected contrast with kyphoplasty than with vertebroplasty. Although leakage of contrast may not correlate precisely with polymethylmethacrylate leakage, the authors believe this study highlights the relative safety of these procedures.
Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty are currently used to treat osteoporotic VCFs with successful short-term results. Prospective, randomized studies comparing these procedures to one another and comparing their long-term outcomes to conventional medical management are required to define precise roles of these exciting treatments in the spine physician's armamentarium.
Purpose To determine if differences in safety or efficacy exist between balloon kyphoplasty (BKP), vertebroplasty (VP) and non-surgical management (NSM) for the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (VCFs). Methods As of February 1, 2011, a PubMed search (key words: kyphoplasty, vertebroplasty) resulted in 1,587 articles out of which 27 met basic selection criteria (prospective multiple-arm studies with cohorts of C20 patients).This systematic review adheres to preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.Results Pain reduction in both BKP (-5.07/10 points, P \ 0.01) and VP (-4.55/10, P \ 0.01) was superior to that for NSM (-2.17/10), while no difference was found between BKP/VP (P = 0.35). Subsequent fractures occurred more frequently in the NSM group (22 %) compared with VP (11 %, P = 0.04) and BKP (11 %, P = 0.01). BKP resulted in greater kyphosis reduction than VP (4.88 vs. 1.7°, P \ 0.01). Quality of life (QOL) improvement showed superiority of BKP over VP (P = 0.04), along with a trend for disability improvement (P = 0.08). Cement extravasation was less frequent in the BKP (P = 0.01). Surgical intervention within the first 7 weeks yielded greater pain reduction than VCFs treated later. Conclusions BKP/VP provided greater pain relief and fewer subsequent fractures than NSM in osteoporotic VCFs. BKP is marginally favored over VP in disability improvement, and significantly favored in QOL improvement. BKP had a lower risk of cement extravasation and resulted in greater kyphosis correction. Despite this analysis being restricted to Level I and II studies, significant heterogeneity suggests that the current literature is delivering inconsistent messages and further trials are needed to delineate confounding variables.
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