Compression fractures in the spine are painful, to say the least. They can be quite debilitating if the pain is severe enough. Doctors sometimes recommend repairing such fractures with a surgical procedure involving metal rods and pins. But there could be another way for certain patients: kyphoplasty.
Lone Star Pain Medicine in Weatherford, Texas includes kyphoplasty on its list of procedures for treating back pain. They explain that kyphoplasty has been utilized in the U.S. for some three decades. It is a fairly common treatment for osteoporosis leading to compression fractures in the spine.
Bones Collapsing on Themselves
A compression fracture is just as its name implies. It occurs when a bone compresses or collapses on itself. Unfortunately, compression fractures are pretty common in the spine as people age. Remember that the spine carries the entire weight of the body. As a person ages, compression fractures become more common.
Also note that spinal compression fractures can lead to chronic muscle weakness and poor posture. Of course, they also cause pain. One way to address them is with a surgical procedure that stabilizes and supports the spine using metal rods and pins. But kyphoplasty does the same thing without the rods and pins.
Surgically Repairing Fractures
When surgical repair is recommended, a surgeon will address the impacted bone by inserting screws or pins above and below the fracture site. Metal rods are then connected to the screws or pins on both sides of the spine. The result is:
- Spinal stabilization that limits movement
- Restoration of spinal alignment
- Support while impacted bones fuse together.
In essence, surgeons create a rigid scaffold that holds the spine in place while the body does its best to repair the fractured bones. Unfortunately, the procedure is considered major surgery. The rods and pins are permanently left in place unless there is a medical reason to remove them.
Kyphoplasty as an Alternative
Kyphoplasty is a far less invasive procedure that can effectively do the same thing as traditional surgery. Instead of stabilizing the spine with rods and pins, a doctor utilizes a combination of a balloon and bone cement.
Using a needle guided by imaging equipment, the doctor inserts a balloon into the cavity of the fracture. The balloon is then inflated. This pushes the damaged bone back into a more normal position and creates a cavity that is then filled with bone cement. The cement hardens in place in a couple of minutes.
Rather than attaching the spinal column to a rigid metal scaffold, kyphoplasty simply replaces missing bone material. It leads to a realignment of the spine as well as a more natural support system that doesn’t require hardware.
Real Life Success Stories
The big question is whether kyphoplasty actually works. It does, which is why doctors have been recommending it for decades. Across the country there are real life success stories among people who have chosen kyphoplasty over other procedures.
One such story comes out of North Carolina where a 72-year-old man broke several bones in his back during a farming accident. The avid runner fell some twelve feet from a bucket while trimming trees.
His doctor completed the kyphoplasty procedure on both broken bones within about an hour. Several weeks later, the man was up and running again. That never would have been possible had he undergone rod and pin surgery.
Lone Star Pain Medicine cautions that kyphoplasty is not the right treatment for every case of compression fracture. But it does seem to work well for the majority of patients to whom it is recommended. Visit Lone Star for more info.