National Osteoporosis Foundation, Medtronic launch fracture prevention initiative

The National Osteoporosis Foundation and Medtronic are launching a joint partnership to educate clinicians and the public about vertebral compression fractures and available treatment options to increase positive health outcomes related to osteoporosis management, according to a press release.

Spine fractures among patients with osteoporosis are often underdiagnosed and, traditionally, treatment options have been limited. This can cause poor outcomes, opioid reliance and added costs to the health care system.

One of the treatment options for vertebral compression fractures is Medtronic’s balloon kyphoplasty, a minimally invasive procedure that reduces and stabilizes vertebral compression fractures related to osteoporosis, cancer or benign lesions. In recent years, studies comparing balloon kyphoplasty with nonsurgical management have shown that balloon kyphoplasty produced better pain relief and quality of life for patients with acute vertebral compression fractures, according to the release.

“We’ve built a really strong partnership with [National Osteoporosis Foundation] and the National Bone Health Alliance, which has helped extend our message related to osteoporosis for patients that are being diagnosed and not treated through the continuum of care,” Jeff Cambra, vice president and general manager of Medtronic’s interventional pain therapies, restorative therapies group, said in the release. “We are trying to build awareness into what [vertebral compression fracture] is and what options are available to treat that fracture.”

The partnership aims to educate clinicians as well as patients about osteoporosis, vertebral compression fracture and available treatment options. One of the biggest opportunities for clinician education is among ED physicians, who see about 500,000 patients with hip or vertebral fractures per year, according to the release.

“We believe that creating a pilot program to provide education to family and ER physicians, starting in eight to 10 cities, could help us understand how to make change,” Elizabeth Thompson, CEO of the National Osteoporosis Foundation, said in the release. “We want to get the message out as people present to the ER with pain or fractures to get a complete osteoporosis workup and referral, and if they receive opioids we want to make sure that is really managed. If someone is going back for a refill after 2 weeks, they should likely have a bone density scan to rule out a vertebral fracture or osteoporosis as the underlying cause.”

Many times, the ED staff refers these patients to orthopedists instead of providing an osteoporosis workup and DXA scan; other times, they prescribe opioids, opening the door for addiction, Thompson said.

“We hope to provide research showing fractures due to osteoporosis isn’t something that can be managed by opioids,” said Claire Gill, chief marketing officer of the National Osteoporosis Foundation. “It becomes chronic for patients quickly, and there needs to be further diagnosis of what that pain is for the elder population.”

As Endocrine Today has previously reported, the rate of osteoporosis medication initiation for older adults hospitalized for hip fracture has fallen steadily during the past decade, further increasing the risk for fracture, according to an insurance claims database analysis published July 20 in JAMA Network Open. The analysis highlighted a continuous decline in osteoporosis medication initiation rates in patients with hip fracture, falling from 9.8% in 2004 to 3.3% in 2015.

In a meta-analysis published in Bone in April, researchers found that adults with osteoporosis who received care from a fracture liaison service program were more likely to undergo bone mineral density testing and initiate and adhere to osteoporosis treatment vs. adults receiving usual care. In the 37 studies that reported on BMD testing, researchers found that unweighted average rates of BMD testing were 48% in the fracture liaison service arms and 23.5% in the usual-care arms, with follow-up periods ranging from 3 to 26 months. In meta-analysis, patients who participated in fracture liaison service interventions were more likely to undergo BMD testing vs. controls (absolute risk increase, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.18-0.29), with results persisting in separate analyses of randomized controlled trials and observational studies.

Through their evidence-based partnership, the National Osteoporosis Foundation and Medtronic are developing educational materials, webinars and presentations for the medical professional and patient audience. – by Regina Schaffer

Disclosures: Cambra reports he is vice president and general manager of Medtronic’s interventional pain therapies, restorative therapies group. Gill reports she is chief marketing officer of the National Osteoporosis Foundation. Thompson reports she is CEO of the National Osteoporosis Foundation.