Vertebroplasty isn’t any better than a placebo

Injections of bone cement into fractured vertebrae fail to relieve pain any more than a placebo does, researchers found.
Spinal Fractures Can Be Terribly Painful. A Common Treatment Isn’t Helping (by Gina Kolata at the New York Times)
Scientists warned osteoporosis patients on Thursday to avoid two common procedures used to shore up painful fractures in crumbling spines.
The treatments, which involve injecting bone cement into broken vertebrae, relieve pain no better than a placebo does, according to an expert task force convened by the American Society for Bone and Mineral Rese...