Vertebroplasty provides pain relief and better quality of life at long-term follow-up link to OrthoSuperSite.com
When other medical treatments failed, patients properly selected for vertebroplasty reported their symptoms improved dramatically after undergoing the procedure. Many of them experienced continued improvements in symptoms through an average 31 months postoperative, according to results of a study conducted by Italian investigators.
Interventional radiologist Giovanni C. Anselmetti, MD, of the Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment, Turin, Italy, and colleagues performed vertebroplasty in 1,542 patients with osteoporotic vertebral fractures. Patients selected did not respond to prior traditional treatment, including bisphosphonates, analgesics and bracing.
“Vertebroplasty dramatically improves back pain within hours of the procedure, provides long-term pain relief and has a low complication rate, as demonstrated in multiple studies,” Anselmetti stated in a Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) press release.
Pain reduction
Results of Anselmetti’s study were recently presented at the SIR 35th Annual Scientific Meeting.
Average pretreatment 11-point Visual Analo...
