Vertebroplasty Is Better Than Kyphoplasty In Treatment Of The Old People With Osteoporotic Vertebral Compression Fractures

Initially performed in the treatment of a painful vertebral hemangioma, percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) is a minimally invasive technique employing the injection of liquid polymethymethacrylate cement into a fractured vertebral body to relieve pain and reinforce the bone. Because of high rate of cement leakage out of vertebral body, American orthopedic surgeon invented a new technique called percutaneous kyphoplasty(PKP) in 1990s, involving the use of an inflatable balloon to create a cavity in the bone and then injection of cement into the fracture vertebrae. Both of the two techniques have merits and disadvantages. It has been inconclusive that orthopedic surgeon should choose which method in treatment of osteoporosis vertebral compression fractures(OVCFs). This study indicated that PVP maybe more predominant than PKP in treatment of OVCFs in old people.Methods and methods:From January 2000 to January 2007,56 patients over 65 years old with single-vertebrae fracture for osteoporosis were treated. On a voluntary basis,29 patients choiced PVP and 27 patients underwent PKP. VAS was tested preoperatively and 1 to 7 days,3 months,6 months,1 year and 2 years postoperatively. Age, gender, radiation time, VAS test, volume of injection and hospital charges of the two procedures were analyzed.Results:Significant differences did not appear in the VAS test between both techniques (P>0.05), although there was a global improvement. There are significant differences between PVP and PKP in terms of radiation time, hospital charges and volumn of injection. The radiation time of PVP and PKP is (100±38) s and (145.6±76) s respectively(P<0.05).The volume of injection of PVP and PKP is (3.0±1.7) ml and (3.56±0.5)ml, respectively(P<0.05).The hospital charges of PVP and PKP are￥(16105±5812) and￥(35211±5602) respectively (P<0.001.)Conclusion:In the old patients over 65 years, PVP is better than PKP in the treatment of the osteoporotic compression fractures because of the former's feature of simplicity and efficiency.