title: [Percutaneous vertebroplasty for vertebral compression fracture].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Percutaneous vertebroplasty has become an option for the treatment of painful osteoporotic compression fractures in patients in whom conservative medical management has failed.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This paper assessed the effectiveness and safety of percutaneous vertebroplasty in patients with focal pain caused by compression vertebral body fractures.
  
  
  METHODS
  Over a twenty-five-month period 63 patients underwent percutaneous vertebroplasty, and ten of these patients were subsequently retreated, for a total of 73 operations on 93 vertebrae. The patients were affected by osteoporotic compression fractures (n=57) or by benign or malignant infiltrative processes (n=6). All patients were examined at discharge and thereafter to assess the level of pain and investigate possible changes in the quality of life. The mean length of follow-up was 15.2 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After treatment, almost 90% of patients reported complete disappearance or significant alleviation of the pain. In 7 of 63 of the patient (11%) there were small asymptomatic leakages of cement outside the vertebral body. A substantial number of patients with osteoporosis, 19% of the study population, experienced new fractures following treatment with vertebroplasty.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our experience confirms the effectiveness of vertebroplasty to pain caused by vertebral fractures. If the indications are strictly followed, improvement of symptoms is often immediate, allowing the return of mobility, and patient satisfaction with surgery is higher. The use of appropriate systems limits the number of complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Takeda General Hospital, Kyoto-city, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawanishi
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.forename: Nahoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: Masatsugu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kamo
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Handa
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D050815:Fractures, Compression / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019637:Orthopedic Procedures; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000150:complications; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016103:Spinal Fractures / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000601:surgery*; D013131:Spine / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate