Eighty percent reported significant and durable pain relief two weeks after having vertebroplasty. The procedure takes less than an hour and the patient receives only mild sedation. None of the patients in the study had gotten better with conventional therapy consisting of bed rest and pain relievers. Vertebroplasty is most often used to treat vertebrae in the lower and mid-spine which are prone to fracture when they become brittle. Ten million Americans have osteoporosis, a disease that causes 700,000 vertebral fractures annually, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation.
Osteoporosis causes bones to become more fragile and break easier.
It is a disease that leads to more than twice the number of vertebral fractures as hip fractures. Those most at risk of osteoporosis are women over age 50 or individuals taking certain drugs such as steroids that accelerate bone mineral loss. Patients who are candidates for percutaneous vertebroplasty undergo MRI tests to make sure their pain is caused by the fracture and not by other back problems such as herniated disc or compression of the spinal cord. The cement is injected into the spine with a needle. Doctors use x-rays to guide them.