PCVP decrease the risk of cemented vertebra refracture compared with PKP: in the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures

Abstract Summary Refracture of cemented vertebral body is a complication after vertebroplasty in treatment of osteoporotic compression fractures (OVCF). The cemented vertebra refracture incidence was compared between PCVP and PKP and the results showed that PCVP had lower refracture incidence, and entailed less fluoroscopy and operation time than bilateral PKP. Introduction The purpose of this study is to compare the refracture incidence of the cemented vertebral body of percutaneous curved vertebroplasty (PCVP) and bilateral percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) in the treatment of OVCF. Methods Ninety-four patients with single segment thoracolumbar OVCF were randomly divided into two groups (47 patients in each) and underwent PCVP or bilateral PKP surgery respectively. The refracture of cemented vertebral body, bone cement injection volume and cement pattern, cement leakage rate, the total surgical time, intraoperative fluoroscopy time, preoperative and postoperative Cobb angles and anterior vertebral height, Oswestry disability index questionnaire (ODI) and visual analog scales (VAS) were recorded. Results The PCVP group had significantly lower refracture incidence of the cemented vertebral than the bilateral PKP group (p<0.05). There was a significant postoperative improvement in the VAS score and ODI in both group (p<0.01), and no significant difference was found between two groups. The operation time and intraoperative fluoroscopy times were significantly less in the PCVP group than the bilateral PKP group (p<0.01). The mean kyphosis angle correction and vertebral height restoration in the PCVP group was significantly less than that in the bilateral PKP group (p<0.01). Conclusion Both PCVP and PKP were safe and effective treatment for OVCF. The PCVP had lower refracture incidence of the cemented vertebral than the bilateral PKP group, and PCVP entailed less exposure to fluoroscopy and shorter operation time than bilateral PKP.