If a doctor has told you or a loved one that you have a vertebral compression fracture (VCF), you know that it is a very painful condition due to a fracture of one or more of the backbones. This usually affects the vertebral body, which is the large cylindrical part of the backbone. These stack up like aluminum cans on top of each other and normally hold the weight of our bodies well. With age and osteoporosis or injury, a fracture can occur. I often describe this to patients as a crushed aluminum can. Most VCFs occur in patients older patients with osteoporosis and can be caused by even mild trauma—sometimes the patient has no recollection of a specific traumatic event.
Until recently, the only treatment for VCF was bedrest and oral pain medications. Being stuck in bed causes rapid deterioration of health and can lead to various complications. The most feared, and often fatal complication, is pulmonary embolism or PE. A PE results from formation of a blood clot in the leg that breaks off and travels to the lung. Other complications include bedsores, malnutrition, depression and drug addiction due to the need for high levels of pain medications.
This conservative therapy of bedrest and pain medications was the only option for treatment until recent development of a procedure known as vertebroplasty (VP). During this procedure, intravenous sedation is given and a needle placed into the vertebral body using x-ray guidance. This needle is roughly the diameter of a number 2 pencil. Once the needle tip is inside the bone, bone cement is injected to stabilize the fracture. This cement has been used by
orthopedic surgeons for years in procedures like joint replacements and has the chemical name of polymethylmethacrylate (poly-meth-el-meth-ak-rill-ate) or PMMA for short.
