Kyphoplasty 101: A Groundbreaking Procedure
Kyphoplasty 101: A Groundbreaking Procedure
Lynne’s Story
At age 53, Lynne Hart’s back was feeling better than it had in decades. As a former nurse and teaching assistant from Normandy, Middlesbrough, England, Hart told the Daily Mail in a 2006 article that she’d been diagnosed with what was a precursor to osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a condition where one’s bones lose their density, becoming brittle. The onset of osteoporosis can be the result of hormonal changes, a lack of vitamin D, or calcium.
Once Hart was diagnosed, she was proactive about managing her condition. She took calcium supplements and began a regimen of exercises: anything she felt would improve the conditions. However, she continued to experience a loss of bone mass.
Things progressively got worse. In 2011 she awoke with severe pain in her upper back and chest. As Hart describes it, “I struggled to walk because of the pain and it got steadily worse.” As a result of her osteoporosis, Hart had fractured a vertebra above her shoulder blades. She then began to experience a loss of height when the bones healed from the curvature of her spine. Eventually, despite taking painkillers and muscle-relaxants, Hart eventually was unable to work or even perform the simplest of daily tasks.
A Glimmer of Hope
It was only when a medical provider suggested an innovative, minimally invasive procedure called kyphoplasty that Hart started to find some hope. After only six weeks after the surgery, Hart reported “my pain had gone—I could do housework, drive and go out. My walking stick’s been put away and I’m no longer stooping.”
Kyphoplasty gave Hart a new life. But what exactly is the procedure and how is it conducted? Let’s take a closer look.
A Widespread Problem
Lynne’s osteoporosis, called “vertebral osteoporosis,” is quite common. It affects approximately 28 million Americans, with 260,000 patients diagnosed with spinal compression fractures every year. More than half of these patients are hospitalized. In addition to severe pain and loss of motor function, mortality for those diagnosed with vertebral osteoporosis is significantly higher than average. The symptoms Hart experienced are also common with others diagnosed. Because of the vertebral fractures, patients have difficulty breathing and experience loss of height from the bones that heal: this “stooping” Hart describes.
Bring in the Reinforcements!
Kyphoplasty, though relatively new—the procedure was first approved by the FDA in 1998— is considered a highly effective treatment: especially in advanced cases of osteoporosis. The procedure is a minimally invasive procedure, lasts approximately 45 minutes, and only requires a localized anesthetic.
Kyphoplasty is conducted to reinforce and strengthen existing bone structure through a process using a specialized “cement” called polymethylmetacrylate (PMMA). PMMA helps stabilize the affected area, helping fractures heal in correct alignment, rather than causing spine curvature.
How It Works
Physicians make only a small incision to thread a thin camera as well as their surgical instrument. This is possible through high definition imaging technology, which the physician uses to perform the surgery. In order to apply the PMMA, the surgeon uses specialized “balloons” inflated to the predetermined circumference in order to make space for the application of PMMA. Once inflated, the physician then carefully replaces the space the balloon makes and applies the PMMA.
Patients report after the operation that pain starts to recede almost immediately. Most are able to be discharged from the hospital the day after the procedure.
Benefits & Risks
Kyphoplasty has been a highly successful procedure not only in the US but globally as well. In a 2009 exhaustive review of the procedure, Dr. Vincenzo Denaro and his research team noted that 92% of patients had pain reduction, that restoration of height was possible in most cases, and that complication rates and risk of reinjury or additional fractures were very low. Dr. Denaro points out that “for balloon kyphoplasty, there is better documentation of gains in functionality and quality of life.”
Standing Straight
For people like Hart, prior to kyphoplasty, osteoporosis was a debilitating condition that affected every aspect of one’s life, with constant pain, loss of mobility, and the feeling of being a burden to loved ones. Kyphoplasty has offered a way for people to reclaim their own lives.
And that’s something worth fighting for.
If you’d like to learn more about kyphoplasty, as well as a host of other minimally invasive treatments for the back and spine, talk to a Patient Care Representative at North American Spine: (877) 474-2225. They are available at any time.
References
- Lee, Cara. ‘Me and My Operation: Injecting Cement into My Spine Repaired My Crumbly Bones’. Daily Mail (Daily Mail), April 30, 2013. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/hea... and Kyphoplasty’. 2017. Accessed January 14, 2017. http://umm.edu/programs/spine/health/guides/osteoporosis-and-kyphoplasty.
- Denaro, Vincenzo, Umile Giuseppe Longo, Nicola Maffulli, and Luca Denaro. ‘Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty’. Clinical Cases in Mineral and Bone Metabolism 6, no. 2 (2009): 125–30. Accessed January 14, 2017. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2781232/.
