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Patients report pain relief, improved quality of life 1 year after kyphoplasty

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LAS VEGAS — Patients with acute vertebral compression fractures treated with balloon kyphoplasty experienced greater improvements in quality of life postsurgically than did control patients who underwent conservative treatment in the largest such comparative study conducted to date.

“Balloon kyphoplasty is a safe procedure,” said Jan Van Meirhaeghe, MD, of Oostkerke, Belgium. He presented the 1-year results of the Fracture Reduction Evaluation (FREE) Study at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) 76th Annual Meeting, here.

Van Meirhaeghe said the 2-year follow-up analysis has already been completed.

Of note among the study?s findings was the fact that the improvements investigators saw in the kyphoplasty group lasted the entire year. However, the biggest difference between the two groups? results came at the 1-month mark when their SF-36 physical component summary (PCS) scores differed drastically. At that time point, there was a 5.2 point difference in PCS scores in favor of the surgical group [CI: 95%].

For the study, 149 patients underwent kyphoplasty and 151 control patients received only conservative care. The groups were similar and although patients with up to three vertebral compression fractures were included in the study, most had one fracture, according to Van Meirhaeghe.

Kyphoplasty surgery does not seem to be increasing the risk of subsequent fractures, he added.

Van Meirhaeghe’s presentation of these data at the AAOS annual meeting came just days after the study was published in the online edition of The Lancet.

Van Meirhaeghe is a paid consultant to Kyphon Inc., Medtronic, Synthes and Stryker and receives speaking compensation from Medtronic.

For more information:

Van Meirhaeghe J, Boonen S, Bastian L, Wardlaw D. A randomized trial of balloon kyphoplasty and nonsurgical care for vertebral compression fractures. Paper #315. Presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons 76th Annual Meeting. Feb. 25-28, 2009. Las Vegas.