title: Effectiveness of percutaneous vertebroplasty in patients with multiple myeloma having vertebral pain.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to assess the effectiveness, benefits, and reliability of percutaneous vertebroplasty (PV) in patients with vertebral involvement of multiple myeloma.
  
  
  METHODS
  PV procedures performed on 166 vertebrae of 41 patients with multiple myeloma were retrospectively evaluated. Most of our patients were using level 3 (moderate to severe pain) analgesics. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed before the procedure to assess vertebral involvement of multiple myeloma. The following variables were evaluated: affected vertebral levels, loss of vertebral body height, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) cement amount applied to the vertebral body during PV, PMMA cement leakages, and pain before and after PV as assessed by a visual analogue scale (VAS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median VAS scores of patients decreased from 9 one day before PV, to 6 one day after the procedure, to 3 one week after the procedure, and eventually to 1 three months after the procedure (P < 0.001). During the PV procedure, cement leakage was observed at 68 vertebral levels (41%). The median value of PMMA applied to the vertebral body was 6 mL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Being a minimally invasive and easily performed procedure with low complication rates, PV should be preferred for serious back pain of multiple myeloma patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Uludağ University School of Medicine, Bursa. omerfatihnas@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ömer Fatih
authors.initials: ÖF
authors.lastname: Nas
authors.forename: Mehmet Fatih
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: İnecikli
authors.forename: Kadir
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hacıkurt
authors.forename: Ramazan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Büyükkaya
authors.forename: Güven
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Özkaya
authors.forename: Fahir
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Özkalemkaş
authors.forename: Rıdvan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.forename: Cüneyt
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Erdoğan
authors.forename: Bahattin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hakyemez
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001416:Back Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009101:Multiple Myeloma / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D054854:Vertebroplasty / Q000379:methods*