BALLOONS OUT – KIVA IN – FOR VCFS (Orthopedics This Week)
For patients suffering with vertebral compression fractures (VCFs) which treatment is superior —balloon kyphoplasty or the Kiva VCF Treatment System by Benvenue Medical, Inc.? An independent, peer-reviewed study published online and in the February 15 edition of Spine, found that the Kiva system significantly restored vertebral body wedge deformity and resulted in lower rates of extravasation and cement volume than balloon kyphoplasty.
PR Newswire quoted Panagiotis Korovessis, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at General Hospital “Agios Andreas” in Patras, Greece, and author of the study as saying: “This study revealed statistically significant advantages of Kiva over balloon kyphoplasty. The study results also indicate that using Kiva to treat painful VCFs may positively influence the medium- and long-term results. Patients may experience less back pain and fewer frequent adjacent fractures.”
For the study doctors examined 168 patients who had 255 osteoporotic fractures less than three months old with an average 14-month post-operative follow-up. The study researchers measured the patients’ vertebr...
