Kyphoplasty

What is kyphoplasty?

Kyphoplasty is a minimally invasive procedure to treat vertebral compression fractures. During a kyphoplasty procedure, your provider at Centers for Pain Control and Vein Care restores the vertebra’s natural height and then injects bone cement into the damaged area, strengthening the bone and stabilizing your spine.

What causes a vertebral compression fracture?

Compression fractures are different from other fractures. Fracturing a healthy bone requires a strong impact to break or crack the bone.

By comparison, compression fractures occur when the vertebra is too weak to support the normal stress endured by your spine. As a result, the vertebra collapses without needing excessive force.

Vertebral compression fractures most often develop due to osteoporosis. Osteoporosis occurs when your bones lose too much calcium, becoming weak and brittle. This condition weakens the vertebrae so dramatically, that a cough or lifting a light object can cause a compression fracture.

Though not as common, a spinal tumor, infection, or severe traumatic injury can also result in a compression fracture.

What symptoms indicate I may need kyphoplasty?

You may experience the following symptoms after suffering a vertebral compression fracture:

• Sudden, severe mid-back pain
• Limited spine movement
• Pain that feels worse when walking
• Pain that feels better when lying down
• Round-back deformity 
• Loss of height

During a compression fracture, only the front side of the vertebra collapses. Since the back side stays the same height, the bone takes on a wedge-like shape.

If several adjacent vertebrae all collapse, their combined wedge-like shapes create a rounded hump in your upper back. This condition is called kyphosis.

What happens during kyphoplasty?

Your provider at Centers for Pain Control and Vein Care uses real-time X-ray imaging called fluoroscopy to see the bone and guide the slim, hollow needle, ensuring they precisely place it in the fractured vertebra.

Once the needle is in place, they inflate a special balloon to create a cavity and restore height to the vertebra. Then they deflate the balloon and inject bone cement into the cavity. The cement hardens in a few minutes, maintaining the shape of the bone and restoring the bone’s strength.

Most patients go back to work the next day. However, you should avoid strenuous activity for 24 hours.

Do I have sedation during a kyphoplasty procedure?

All patients receive a local anesthetic at the site of the needle insertion. You also have the option of receiving IV sedation. Combining sedation and the local anesthetic makes for a nearly pain-free procedure.

If you need help with mid-back pain or you would like to learn more about kyphoplasty, call Centers for Pain Control and Vein Care, or book an appointment online.