Introduction: Percutaneous vertebroplasty consists of the injection of acrylic cement into weakened vertebral bodies to achieve pain relief and mechanical stability of the spine.
Objective: To evaluate the characteristics and effectiveness of the vertebroplasties performed at the Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet in Zaragoza.
Patients and methods: This is a retrospective study of 147 vertebroplasties performed in 95 patients (60 women and 35 men; age range: 19 to 84 years). The oblique transpedicular approach, which achieves adequate cement injection with a single puncture, is currently used. A visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to evaluate pain before and after the procedure.
Results: The osseous lesion most often treated by vertebroplasty is fracture secondary to osteoporosis, accounting for 65% of the cases in this series, followed by hemangiomas (23%), and osteolytic metastases, traumatic fractures, lymphomas, and myelomas. Prior to vertebroplasty, the mean VAS score was 8.88 versus 2.78 after the treatment. Only 7.3% of the patients had symptomatic complications.
Conclusion: Vertebroplasty is safe and efficacious; it is the treatment of choice for vertebral pain refractory to medication. It enables patients to return to their habitual lifestyle quickly and thus helps reduce hospital stays and costs.