Treatment of painful osteoporotic vertebral collapse by percutaneous vertebroplasty

Objective:The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) in treating painful vertebral osteoporotic collapse.Methods:Thirty one cases of osteoporotic vertebral collapse were evaluated with CT and MR imaging and clinical follow up,39 procedures of percutaneous vertebroplasty were performed under CT guidance.Thirty one patients included in the study (12 men,19 women,aged 58～81 years ) had pain more than two months duration that hindered ambulation and required treatment with analgesic drugs.The analogic visual scale of Huskisson was used for pain scoring assessment.Results:In 72 hours after bone cement injection,pain was completely relieved in 20 patients and analgesic administration was stopped.Pain was partially relieved in eight patients and dosis of analgesic decreased.Pain relief was slight in the other 3 patients.Follow up two months to four years,the local pain of treated vertebra did not recur.In one patient pain recurred three months after PVP due to a new acute collapse of an adjacent vertebra,and pain was relieved by second PVP treatment.Conclusion:Vertebroplasty for the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral collapse is a minimally invasive procedure that provides immediate pain relief and enables the patients to become quickly mobile.PVP is a good method to treat osteoporotic vertebral collapse.