Abstract
Vertebroplasty is widely used for the treatment of compression fractures secondary to osteoporosis and metastatic spine tumors. The technique is safe and effective in reversing the course of decline in general activities including mentation, often caused by conservative treatment consisting primarily of immobilization for osteoporotic fractures. Conditions such as unstable fractures, metastatic tumors to the cervical spine, and fractures of the posterior wall of the vertebral bodies, have been excluded from indications for the procedure. However, we have been expanding the use of the technique to such applications in conjunction with open surgery, and the techniques can be used effectively for unstable fractures, as well as multi-level metastasis involving the cervical spine. Vertebroplasty can be effectively employed in combination with advanced technologies in radiotherapy, such as spinal radiosurgery (SRS) and/or intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for metastatic spine diseases. It is useful in restoring and maintaining the walking capability in the cancer patients, whose prospects for survival and activities in daily life can be limited due to the primary disease and systemic metastasis. The immediate efficacy in pain relief, recovery in locomotion, little invasiveness and short hospital stay makes the combined procedure an attractive and promising alternative to conventional surgery such as vertebrectomy and fixation/instrumentation, which can be extensive and excessively invasive for those patients suffering from cancer and the side effects of treatments.
