Treatment of early symptoms recurrence after percutaneous vertebroplasty in patients with osteoporotic vertebral fractures

Abstract

Objective To investigate the treatment of early symptoms recurrence after percutaneous vertebroplasty in patients with osteoporotic vertebral fractures. Methods Twenty-three patients with recurrent symptoms within 2 weeks after PVP were selected, MRI and CT scans were performed to determine the recurrence of the same vertebral body fracture. Among the 23 patients, 18 patients underwent PVP procedures, and 5 patients received conservative treatments with traditional Chinese medicine. All patients’ standard registration forms were collected during hospitalization and follow-up of 1 year: clinical symptoms, visual analogue scale (VAS) score for pain, Oswestry disability index (ODI) score to evaluate functional activity. Results All patients had good results and no complications occurred during the treatment. Analysis of VAS and DOI scores showed significant differences in improvement between pre-treatment and follow-up. The VAS score was significantly improved (8.3±1.2 vs. 2.9±0.7, P<0.05), and the ODI score was also significantly improved (76.4±12.5 vs. 26.7±5.6, P<0.05). There was no significant loss of vertebral height at the end of follow-up. There was no complications and all patients with good function after 12 months follow-up. Conclusions Individual treatment techniques are greatly adapted to the management of early symptoms recurrence after percutaneous vertebroplasty. Careful evaluation has an important effect on re-operation or conservative treatments in patients with osteoporotic vertebral fractures. Key words: Percutaneous vertebroplasty; Symptoms recurrence; Reoperation; Traditional Chinese medicine treatment