Vertebroplasty relieves pain in nearly 1500 patients

Vertebroplasty was found to be an effective treatment for chronic back pain due to osteoporotic vertebral collapses in a study of more than 1500 patients followed for seven years.

Dr. Giovanni C. Anselmetti, an interventional radiologist at the Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment in Turin, Italy, and colleagues included in their study 1542 patients with collapsed vertebrae (confirmed by MRI) that had not improved with medical therapy.

In 1494 patients the average pretreatment pain score on an 11-point visual analog scale dropped significantly, from 8.2 to an average of 1.1 post-treatment. Patients’ ability to manage everyday life activities such as washing and dressing also improved dramatically after vertebroplasty.

The study was presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology’s annual meeting in Tampa, FL.