Burst fracture of the spine involving vertebrae presenting no other lesions - The role of vertebroplasty

We report our experience on percutaneous vertebroplasty performed on five patients who presented with history of trauma to the spine and secondary burst fracture, but with stable fractures, and on whom the medical and orthopedical therapies had been unsuccessful in the relief of the intractable pain and in the treatment of their functional status. Four cases have benefitted from the intervention, with complete disappearance of the symptomatology in two and incomplete in the other two. In one case, the improvement in the persistent painful symptoms was of no significance. Controls by computed tomography (CT). Which were performed after 3 months showed a satisfactory consolidation of the fractured vertebrae. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.