RESULTS
Vertebroplasty can achieve a complete pain resolution or a significative pain reduction from 90% to 95% rate of all osteoporotic patients and 70% to 85% in the malignancy with a very low rate (<1%) of severe complications. Complications may occurr if the procedure is perfomed by a not trained physician or low quality radiologic guiding system is employed.
These procedures are aimed to cure only the pain but are not able to cure the disease that causes the pain (i.e. vertebroplasty do not cure the osteoporosis or the breast cancer) so an integration with coventional medical theraphy is often required.
Even if a correct medical therapy for osteoporosis is given, 9% to 15% of treated patients reported a new fracture in other vertebra. This can occur between 7 days to 3 years from the first treatment; these new fracture can be easily and successfully treated again with Vertebroplasty.
COMPLICATIONS
MINOR:
Venous lumbar plex embolization (asymptomatic)
Small Cement leaks in the perivertebral soft tissue (asymptomatic)
Foramina perineuritis (generally asymptomatic or easily resolved with steroid loco- regional infiltration)
Small Lung embolism (generally asymptomatic)
SEVERE:
Leakage of Cement in the spinal space (rare complication requiring immediate surgical decompression)
Spinal cord direct lesion (leading to paraplegia)
Large Lung embolism with Acute respiratory failure
Death