Spine

Percutaneous vertebroplasty is a minimally invasive and palliative procedure involving the injection of bone cement into a vertebral body lesion at the cervical, thoracic or lumbar level. The technique decreases pain and strengthens the vertebral body. Its indications are severe osteoporosis with vertebral compression fractures and aggressive haemangiomas.¹ Patients with vertebral tumours may also need vertebroplasty. Not all patients are suitable for this treatment.²

The vertebroplasty technique involves the insertion of one or two large-bore (10-11-13 or 15 gauge) needles into the collapsed vertebral body under fluoroscopic or CT guidance, with the patient under conscious sedation. The PMMA cement is manually injected into the vertebral body. The cement includes a high concentration of zirconium dioxide to make it clearly visible on X-ray.^3,4

After the cement permeates the crevice of the fractured vertebrae, it hardens and stabilises the bony structure. This procedure is not intended to restore normal vertebral height but to provide stability to the compressed site, thereby reducing pain. Immediately following the procedure, most patients experience significant relief from pain.⁵

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