Outcomes of vertebroplasty in osteoporotic vertebral fractures with limited indication

• Published in: Revista española de cirugía ortopédica y traumatología (English ed.) Vol. 64; no. 1; pp. 4 - 12
• Main Authors: Navarro-Navarro, R, Fernández-Varela, T, Montesdeoca-Ara, A, Lorenzo-Rivero, J A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Spanish
• Published: 01.01.2020
• ISSN: 2173-576X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.recot.2019.09.010

INTRODUCTIONVertebroplasty has been shown to be effective for improving quality of life and pain of osteoporotic vertebral fractures (OVF) without neurological deficit and not susceptible to conservative treatment. It is advisable to perform them on recent fractures with 50% crush and without the involvement of the canal, although there are no standard recommendations. In some cases these limits are exceeded. We analyse the outcomes of percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) in OVF with relative/limit indication. MATERIALS AND METHODSRetrospective analysis of 88 patients (126 fractures) who underwent surgery by PVP; 95/126 were osteoporotic fractures. Thirty-four cases (35%) were included in the relative indication group, with at least one of the following: canal involvement,>50% collapse, and>12 months of evolution of the fracture. The rest of the cases were included in the standard indication group. We performed clinical-radiological follow-up, collected intraoperative data on techniques and complications, occurrence of leaks, postoperative clinical improvement (according to VAS), new adjacent fractures, and satisfaction. RESULTSMost fractures were between D11-L2 (66%) with 6-8 months follow-up. No significant differences were observed regarding clinical improvement in either group. A higher percentage of leaks were detected in the relative indication group, 44% in comparison to 29.5% in the standard indication group, without statistical significance. All leakages were asymptomatic. There were 3new OVF after PVP in the relative indication group and 4in the standard group, without statistically significant differences. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONSThe use of cement in OVF with relative indication led to the same clinical benefit in our sample as those with standard indication. A higher number of leakages occurred in the relative indication group with no clinical consequences or adjacent fractures.