Dr Kenneth P Burres says....

Aspect of Kyphoplasty

What it means

Comment

The spine is composed of many solid boney vertebrae which are connected to one another by discs and joints.The vertebrae are very strong but can be weakened by bone loss (osteoporosis) and a minor accident can cause a fracture

In the USA, a fracture occurs every 7 minutes. Several of them not only cause pain but spinal deformity (hump back) then restriction of breathing and more

Normal vertebrae (shown) can withstand injuries and keep posture straight

A vertebral compression fracture (VCF) as shown can occur anywhere in the spine and common locations are L1 and L2

First symptom is acute back pain eased somehat by going to bed

Kyphoplasty is minimally invasive and the balloon catheter is introduced using Xray control and a small incision. The balloon is inserted deep into the fracture if possible

It is best to fix this problem while the fracture is fresh and before it has collapsed severely

The balloon is inflated with Xray control and an attempt is made to reduce the fracture and make it more normal.

Usually some reduction of the fracture is possible with the balloon and a void is created that will be filled with PMMA cement

The ballon is deflated creating space for placement of stabilizing cement

When the space is filled with cement, the vertebrae is nearly immediately stable allowing for treatment of other VCFs at the same surgical time

You get released from the hospital or clinc. Dr Burres uses a hospital so MediCare will cover the procedure

You can start rehabilitation in a week. Exercise to help avoid more compression fractures in the future.