Kyphoplasty

What is kyphoplasty?

Kyphoplasty is a minimally invasive procedure that your provider at Comprehensive Pain Management Partners can use to address painful, collapsed spinal bones (vertebrae). You can think of it like restoring a crushed soda can to its proper shape by puffing it back up and then reinforcing it.

For this treatment, your skilled doctor gently inserts a small balloon into the fractured vertebra, inflating it to create space and help restore the vertebra’s shape, and then fills that space with a medical-grade bone cement. Once the cement hardens, it stabilizes the fracture and keeps it from collapsing.

Who needs kyphoplasty, and what are the benefits?

Kyphoplasty helps people with painful vertebral compression fractures that haven’t responded to conservative treatment such as rest, pain medication, or bracing. These fractures may be due to osteoporosis, cancer, or, in some cases, traumatic injury.

Kyphoplasty can have substantial benefits, including:

• Rapid and significant pain relief
• Improved mobility
• Less need for strong pain medications

It can also improve your posture and reduce your risk of spinal deformity by partially restoring vertebral height and correcting abnormal curvature.

What happens during a kyphoplasty procedure?

Kyphoplasty is usually an outpatient procedure or requires a short hospital stay. The team keeps you comfortable with local anesthesia with sedation or, in some cases, general anesthesia.

For your procedure, you’ll lie face down on a table while your doctor carefully places a narrow needle into the fractured vertebra, using X-ray guidance for precision. They pass a small balloon into the space and gently inflate it to elevate the collapsed bone and create a cavity within the vertebra.

Once space is restored, they deflate and remove the balloon and reinforce the cavity with bone cement to ensure stability. The entire procedure often takes less than an hour per treated vertebra, and you can often return home the same day (after a monitoring period).

Your doctor provides personalized recommendations for your recovery, and you may experience pain relief and better mobility within 48 hours. Some pain relief is immediate. Take it easy for a few weeks until your doctor is sure you’ve fully recovered.

Kyphoplasty can significantly improve your quality of life if you’ve been struggling with painful compression fractures. To learn more about this minimally invasive procedure and whether it can benefit you, schedule a consultation at the nearest Comprehensive Pain Management Partners office or book your appointment online today.