Rare Episode of Cement Leakage During Vesselplasty in a Case of Vertebral Compression Fracture

The significance of the best puncture side bone cement/vertebral volume ratio to prevent paravertebral vein leakage of bone cement during vertebroplasty: a retrospective study

OBJECTIVES

To verify the clinical significance of the best puncture-side bone cement/vertebral volume ratio (PSBCV/VV%) and bone cement leakage in paravertebral veins during vertebroplasty.

METHODS

This was a retrospective analysis of a total of 210 patients from September 2021 to December 2022, who were divided into an observation group (110 patients) and a control group (100 patients). In the observation group, patients' preoperative computed tomography (CT) data were imported into Mimics software, and the VV was calculated using the three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction function. Then, based on the best PSBCV/VV% of 13.68% determined in a previous study, the optimal PSBCV to be injected during vertebroplasty was calculated. In the control group, vertebroplasty was performed directly using the conventional method. The incidence of cement leakage into paravertebral veins was observed postoperatively in both groups.

RESULTS

There were no statistically significant differences (P > 0.05) in the evaluated indicators between the two groups pre- or postoperatively, including the anterior vertebral margin height, mid-vertebral height, injured vertebral Cobb angle, visual analogue scale (VAS) score, and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). Intragroup comparisons showed improvements in the anterior vertebral height, mid-vertebral height, injured vertebral Cobb angle, VAS score, and ODI after surgery compared with before surgery (P < 0.05). In the observation group, there were 3 cases of cement leakage into the paravertebral veins, for a leakage rate of 2.7%. In the control group, there were 11 cases of cement leakage into the paravertebral veins, for a leakage rate of 11%. The difference in the leakage rate between the two groups was statistically significant (P = 0.016).

CONCLUSION

In vertebroplasty, preoperative VV calculations using Mimics software, combined with calculation of the PSBCV according to the best PSBCV/VV% (13.68%), can effectively prevent leakage of bone cement into paravertebral veins and further prevent serious life-threatening complications such as pulmonary embolism.

Vesselplasty versus vertebroplasty in the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures with posterior wall rupture

OBJECTIVE

This study was performed to compare the effectiveness and safety of vesselplasty versus vertebroplasty in the treatment of osteoporotic compression fractures with posterior wall rupture.

METHODS

Patients who underwent treatment of a single osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture with posterior wall rupture from January 2016 to February 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. They were divided into a vesselplasty group (n = 17) and a vertebroplasty group (n = 43). Pain relief, radiographic outcomes, and bone cement leakage were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

There were no significant differences in the operation time, postoperative pain relief, vertebral compression recovery, or local Cobb angle improvement between the two groups. However, the overall bone cement leakage rate (29.4% vs. 67.4%) and spinal canal leakage rate (0.0% vs. 30.2%) were significantly lower in the vesselplasty group than vertebroplasty group.

CONCLUSIONS

Vesselplasty offers similar pain relief and vertebral compression recovery but lower spinal canal leakage compared with vertebroplasty. Vesselplasty is thus a better option than vertebroplasty for patients with osteoporotic compression fractures with posterior wall rupture.

Outcomes of different minimally invasive surgical treatments for vertebral compression fractures: An observational study

BACKGROUND

Osteoporosis with vertebral compression fractures is increasingly common in the elderly population. Cement augmentation is one of the effective surgical treatments for these patients. Currently, there are several different types of cement augmentation treatments. No studies have compared the safety and efficacy of different cement augmentation types for the treatment of such fractures; thus, we retrospectively compared vertebroplasty, balloon kyphoplasty, and kyphoplasty with SpineJack or an intravertebral expandable pillar.

AIM

To compare the postoperative safety and efficacy of each surgical intervention in treating vertebral compression fractures.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed 354 patients with acute vertebral compression fractures, defined as signal changes in the T1 weighted magnetic resonance imaging, and randomly divided the patients into five groups. Their visual analog scale scores for pain, kyphotic angle, average body height, rate of cement leakage, and occurrence of adjacent vertebral compression fractures were followed for 1 year. One-way analysis of variance, the post hoc Bonferroni test, and Fisher exact probability test were used for statistical analyses.

RESULTS

All pain scores significantly improved 12 mo postoperatively; however, there was no significant difference between the groups (P = 0.325). Kyphoplasty with SpineJack significantly reduced the kyphotic angle (P = 0.028) and restored the height of the vertebral body (P = 0.02). The rate of adjacent compression fractures was the highest in the vertebroplasty group, with a statistically significant difference according to the Fisher exact probability test (P = 0.02). The treatment with the lowest cement leakage rate cannot be identified because of the small sample size; however, kyphoplasty with SpineJack, an IVEP, and vesselplasty resulted in lower rates of cement leakage than balloon kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty.

CONCLUSION

Kyphoplasty with SpineJack has good outcomes in kyphotic angle reduction and body height restoration. Vertebroplasty has the highest cement leakage rate and adjacent compression fracture occurrence.

[Comparison of effectiveness of Vesselplasty and percutaneous kyphoplasty for Kümmell disease]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effectiveness of Vesselplasty and percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) in treatment of Kümmell disease.

METHODS

Between January 2015 and December 2018, 63 patients with Kümmell disease were treated. Among them, 28 cases were treated with Vesselplasty (Vesselplasty group) and 35 cases were treated with PKP (PKP group). There was no significant difference in gender, age, disease duration, bone mineral density (T value), fracture distribution, and preoperative pain visual analogue scale (VAS) score, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), anterior height of injured vertebrae, and kyphosis Cobb angle between the two groups ( P>0.05). The operation time, intraoperative fluoroscopy time, bone cement injection volume, the leakage rate of bone cement, the diffusion area ratio of bone cement, and the complications of the two groups were recorded. VAS score, ODI, anterior height of injured vertebrae, and kyphosis Cobb angle were compared between the two groups before operation and at 1 day after operation and last follow-up.

RESULTS

All patients of the two groups were followed up 12-36 months, with an average of 24.2 months. The operation time, intraoperative fluoroscopy time, bone cement injection volume, and diffusion area ratio of bone cement were significantly lower in the Vesselplasty group than in the PKP group ( P<0.05). The leakage rate of bone cement was significantly lower in the Vesselplasty group (7.14%) than in the PKP group (34.29%) ( χ 2=5.153, P=0.023). At 1 day after operation and last follow-up, the VAS score, ODI, anterior height of injured vertebrae, and kyphosis Cobb angle of the two groups were superior to those before operation ( P<0.05), and no significant difference between the two groups ( P>0.05). During the follow-up, there was no re-collapse of vertebrae, and the adjacent vertebrae fracture occurred in 2 cases of the Vesselplasty group and 5 cases of PKP group. There was no significant difference in the incidence of adjacent vertebrae fracture between the Vesselplasty group (7.14%) and the PKP group (14.29%) ( χ 2=0.243, P=0.622).

CONCLUSION

Vesselplasty and PKP have similar effectiveness in the treatment of Kümmell disease. They can effectively relieve the pain symptoms, improve the quality of life, partially restore the height of injured vertebrae, and correct kyphosis. But the Vesselplasty has the advantages of shorter operation time, less intraoperative fluoroscopy time, and less bone cement leakage.