Kyphoplasty
If osteoporosis has weakened and fractured your spine, you may consider kyphoplasty surgery. Kyphoplasty provides immediate and long-lasting pain relief to get you back on the move and enjoying life’s essential activities without the burden of back pain.
Kyphoplasty, similar to vertebroplasty, is a procedure that repairs compression fractures of the spine.
Kyphoplasty surgery uses a small balloon to open and straighten the fractured area of the vertebral body (the cracked bone in the spine that bares your weight). Once this is achieved, bone cement is injected into the newly formed space to obtain immediate stabilization of the spinal column.
Traditional treatment for spinal fractures caused by osteoporosis included pain medication, bed rest and bracing. Our neurological and orthopedic surgeons have been able to perform kyphoplasty surgery to reduce our patients’ back pain, treat posture deformities and provide a better quality of life for our patients.
Kyphoplasty is a minimally-invasive surgery and is done under local anesthesia.
During your procedure, small incisions are made over your fractured vertebra. With the help of real-time X-rays, small tubes (cannulas) are carefully guided toward the fracture.
Once the cannulas are within the fractured vertebral body, a balloon tamp at the end of the cannula is inflated to restore your vertebral body to its correct position. The balloon is then carefully removed and replaced with bone cement to repair the spinal damage.
The procedure takes about 45 minutes per fractured vertebra. At the conclusion of the procedure, the spine is better aligned and stabilized, and pain is dramatically relieved.
Along with being a minimally-invasive procedure, Kyphoplasty also has a low risk of complication. Still, as with any surgery, some risks and complications may arise. These include infection, blood clots in the spine, bone cement leakage, and possible nerve damage.