What is kyphoplasty

Kyphoplasty surgery to treat a fracture from osteoporosis is performed at a hospital under local or general anesthesia. Other logistics for a typical kyphoplasty procedure are:.

Patients should not drive until they are given approval by their doctor. If they are released the day of the kyphoplasty surgery, they will need to arrange for transportation home from the hospital. Pain relief will be immediate for some patients.

In others, elimination or reduction of pain is reported within two days. At home, patients can return to their normal daily activities, although strenuous exertion, such as heavy lifting, should be avoided for at least six weeks.

You may face other risks, depending on your specific medical condition. Make sure to discuss any concerns with your doctor before the procedure. Your doctor will examine you, possibly drawing blood for testing and using X-ray or magnetic resonance imaging MRI to locate the fractures. An anesthesiologist will deliver medicine through an IV to either relax you and relieve your pain or put you to sleep. With X-ray guidance, your doctor will insert a needle through your skin and back muscles into the bone, then inflate a balloon to help the vertebra regain its normal shape.

The entire procedure will probably take less than an hour, though it may last longer if more vertebrae are treated. Surgery can help treat such fractures. For example, kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty are minimally invasive procedures that are often performed together.

Usually, they can be done without a hospital stay. Kyphoplasty makes room for the mixture. In this procedure, a doctor inserts and inflates a balloon to create an opening for the mixture.

The balloon is removed after the cement is injected. Kyphoplasty is sometimes referred to as balloon vertebroplasty. Both of these procedures are more likely to be successful if done within two months of a fracture diagnosis. They can help relieve pain and improve mobility when other measures fail to provide relief. These procedures can be effective in treating people whose bones are weakened by cancer or whose vertebrae collapse due to osteoporosis , a disease that causes loss of bone density.

Kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty are used to mend recent fractures. Because kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty are surgical procedures, your doctor will probably order some blood tests before the day of your surgery. Imaging tests such as an X-ray or MRI scan will help your surgeon see the area or areas that need repair. In preparation, an intravenous line IV will be placed in a vein in your arm to deliver anesthesia.

After 1 hour you may sit up. After 2 hours you may get up and walk. Most patients stay in the hospital overnight for observation and are released the next morning.

Some patients can be released home the same day. Be sure to have someone at home to help you for the first 24 to 48 hours. In general, you can expect:. The sooner a fracture is repaired, the better the results.

In a recent study of kyphoplasty, pain levels in patients dropped from an average of 8. Additionally, of 51 patients who either couldn't move around on their own or required assistance to move, only 8 patients couldn't move around without assistance after three months. This reduction in pain and increased ability to move significantly improved the patients' quality of life. Other studies in cancer patients with multiple myeloma have shown similar results. No surgery is without risks.

General complications of any surgery include bleeding, infection, blood clots, and reactions to anesthesia. The following are specific risks that should be considered:. Bone cement leakage. There is a slight possibility that bone cement can leak along the outside of the needle into surrounding soft tissues. This can also happen when the needle is removed from the vertebra.

Cement can leak into the veins surrounding the vertebra. The surgeon closely watches the fluoroscope and stops injecting cement if this begins to happen. Cement can leak into the neural foramen where the spinal nerve exits the spinal cord. This can cause nerve pain radiculopathy and may require further treatment. Nerve damage. Any operation on the spine comes with the risk of damaging the spinal nerves or cord, which can cause numbness or paralysis.

Links Spine-health. Common in elderly women after menopause. Can be prevented early in life with calcium and regular exercise to stimulate bone metabolism.