Aug 10, 2005 5:15 pm US/Central
Medical Cement May Ease Osteoporosis-Related Pain
New Cement Could Help Mend Compression Fractures Of The Spine
by Mary Ann Childers
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
If you have osteoporosis, you're at risk for very painful compression fractures of the spine. A medical cement is paving the way to relief.
Margaret McLaughlin is all smiles. The mind-numbing back pain she had is history.
"Once I got out of the hospital, I had no pain at all," she said.
Her story starts when she fell backwards out of a lounge chair.
"I knew I fractured something. I could hear the break," she said.
Margaret, who has osteoporosis, fractured a bone in her spine.
"I thought she had a pretty severe fracture and was worried that maybe it was affecting the spinal cord," said her daughter, Colleen Madden.
Her doctor decided Margaret was a good candidate for vertebroplasty – a minimally invasive technique to repair her fracture with medical cement.
"It's a chemical that is a liquid when you mix it up," said Sam Putnam, M.D. "After about 15 to 20 minutes it solidifies into a very rock hard substance."
During the procedure, doctors insert thin spinal needles directly into the fractured vertebra. Then they inject the cement.
"We inject it through a special injector under continuous x-ray guidance, and we watch it fill out the vertebral body and essentially splint that fracture from the inside," said Putnam.
The cement stabilizes the bone and the pain is alleviated usually within 24 hours.
"We want them to return to full activity as much as possible. That's the idea," Putnam said.
And that's just what Margaret did. Just two days after the procedure, she went on vacation with her family.
"We went to Florida," she said.
"My mother is 80, but she's a young 80," Colleen said.
Doctors say the procedure is most effective when patients manage their osteoporosis with proper medications and physical therapy. People who've had one fracture are five times more likely to have another one within a year.
For general information on vertebroplasty and to find a local doctor, visit
www.vertebroplasty.com.
Information is also available from:
Radiological Society of North America
Society of Interventional Radiology
For information on spinal fractures:
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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