OT - Kyphoplasty, anyone ever had it done?

XC242

I suffered a compression fracture of one of my lumbar vertebra 4 weeks ago. I'll be talking with my Doctor this week and making a final decision whether or not to have this surgery. Dr. said if the fracture hasn't gotten worse since an MRI 2 weeks ago he would recommend treatment w/out surgery (back brace for 2 1/2 more months). I know what this surgery is so there's no need to explain what it is. Just seeing if anyone on the forum has had any experience with it.

Markzzz

Conservative management, as your doctor mentioned is always a good idea, if possible.  As you know, all surgery has risks.  Bleeding, infection and perforation are typically the big three.  These risks are low but they are real and always possible.  As far as surgery for a kyphoplasty, it is a quick procedure and can be done in under an hour.  There are three types of surgeons to perform this procedure.  Orthopedic spine, interventional radiologists and neurosurgeons.  All can be good at performing this procedure.  I would recommend choosing one that routinely does the procedure under a deep sedation with you breathing spontaneously on your own as opposed to a general anesthetic with a breathing tube.  Surgeons who require a general anesthetic with a breathing tube for all of their kyphoplastys tend to be less skilled at this procedure; in my opinion.  As long as you are not morbidly obese with significant obstructive sleep apnea, a breathing tube is not necessary and good surgeons can pull this off this way.  The most important thing if going the surgical route is choosing the best surgeon.  Always ask them how many they have done.  Their answer should be they have  done at least a hundred of them, if not more.  I practice anesthesia for a living and we do anesthesia for kyphoplastys on a daily basis.  Hope this helps

mark

XC242

Thanks for the info @Markzzz , much appreciated. think I now understand why you have the zzz in your handle. 

DaveRichardson

Ortho here....  It's a good procedure in an acute to semi-acute fracture. At 4 weeks, you are getting low on time to do something. 

Great for pain relief. Simple needle approach. We still have folks that use the balloon approach to "inflate" the vertebra first, then inject the bone cement, and others that go straight to cement. All depends on the end plate health. 

XC242

Thanks @DaveRichardson .  Just had another XRay yesterday. Waiting to hear from the neurosurgeon. The pain isn't too bad when using OTC meds and the back brace is tolerable. If it hasn't gotten any worse I'll stay in the brace.