Balloon kyphoplasty for the treatment of pathological vertebral compressive fractures

Abstract

Associated spinal stenosis with OVCF should not be overlooked; STIR MRI is a good predictor of deformity correction with balloon kyphoplasty. The prevalence of a new OVCF in the adjacent level is low.

Efficacy and safety of balloon kyphoplasty in the treatment of vertebral compression fractures: a systematic review

“…Thus, while Crandall et al [10] report similar reductions in mean kyphosis angle between acute and chronic fractures (Table 1), other investigators [4,13,21] indicate that the possibilities for reduction seem to be greater the younger the fractures. However, these results are difficult to evaluate, due to the limited number of cases [4] and the lack of data amenable to analysis [13,21].…”

“…Regarding the percentage of levels in which the technique proves able to increase vertebral height, the results of various studies [10,13,28,30] yield values in the range of 70-96%.…”

“…Thus, the results obtained by Garfin [15] indicate that in patients with a baseline loss of height equivalent to over 15% of the estimated normal value, the favorable effects of the technique only reach statistical significance in the case of fractures less than 60 days old. On the other hand, the results of a prospective study [10] specifically contrasting the results of BK in acute VCFs (defined as being less than 10 weeks [4,10,13,18,21,42,53,58] that consider the absolute value of the Cobb angle show the latter to decrease after kyphoplasty, though the mean reduction varies between )1.8°and )9.9°. The combined examination of the studies [4,10,13,18,42,53] that contribute data amenable to analysis confirms that following BK, the absolute value of this angle decreases significantly (Fig.…”

The Michel Benoist and Robert Mulholland yearly European Spine Journal Review

“…The paper by Gaitanis et al [5] has assessed the results of kyphoplasty in 27 patients with osteoporotic vertebral fractures and in 5 patients with osteolytic vertebral tumors. Pain relief, evaluated by VAS, ODI, and pain drawing was rapidly obtained in most patients, thus confirming the remarkable action of the technique with a follow-up of at least 1 year for all patients.…”

Reviewer?s comment on: Balloon kyphoplasty for the treatment of pathological vertebral compressive fractures (I.N. Gaitanis et al.)

“…Gaitanis et al [7]) describe a small, heterogeneous series of patients in whom balloon kyphoplasty was performed. Twenty-seven had osteoporotic vertebra compression fractures (OVCF), and five had vertebral metastases.…”