Percutaneous vertebroplasty in the management of vertebral lesions.
BACKGROUND
Debilitating backache due to different types of vertebral lesions is a common cause of morbidity in all age groups. Percutaneous vertebroplasty (PV) gives substantial pain relief and stabilizes the weak vertebrae. Most of the information regarding PV comes from the Western literature. The effect of PV in our population should be studied.


OBJECTIVE
The primary objective is to assess the therapeutic benefit of PV in alleviating back pain and improving the functional status in patients with painful pathologic vertebrae. The secondary objectives are to study the technical aspects of the procedure and their relation to outcome and complications.


METHODS
This is a retrospective hospital-based (tertiary teaching hospital) study.


METHODS
From January 2001 to December 2004, 46 patients underwent PV procedures. Sixty-five vertebroplasties were done in 13 males and 33 female patients. Twenty-four (36.92%) procedures were done for osteoporotic compression collapse, 26 (40.0%) for hemangioma, and 15 (23.07%) for different vertebral body tumors and metastasis. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to evaluate the statistical significance of differences between the preoperative and postoperative levels of pain, mobility and analgesic usage.


RESULTS
Most of the patients had pain relief within 48 h. Only minor side effects were encountered. No patient had any deficit related to the procedure. On follow up of 3-48 months, all patients had statistically significant improvement in clinical condition (P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Percutaneous vertebroplasty is a safe and effective procedure in relieving debilitating backache and can be used to treat vertebral lesions in selected cases.
Purkayastha
S
S
Department of Radiology, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum, Kerala, India. Sukalyanp@yahoo.co.in
Gupta
A K
AK
Kapilamoorthy
T R
TR
Kesavadas
C
C
Thomas
B
B
Krishnamoorthy
T
T
Bodhey
N K
NK
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001416:Back Pain / Q000601:surgery; D001843:Bone Cements; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013131:Spine / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D001843:Bone Cements