Effective, non-invasive pain relief for osteoporosis

(Ivanhoe Newswire)-- Vertebroplasty, a minimally invasive treatment, offers new hope for those suffering the ravages of osteoporosis, the most common type of bone disease.

Osteoporosis affects 10 million Americans and is responsible for 700,000 vertebral fractures each year. Multiple vertebral fractures can result in chronic pain and disability, loss of independence, stooped posture and compression of the lungs and stomach.

"Vertebroplasty puts lives and vertebrae back together," Giovanni C. Anselmetti, M.D., interventional radiologist at the Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment in Turin, Italy, was quoted as saying. Before treatment, many osteoporotic patients are in constant pain and cannot manage everyday activities. Vertebroplasty, a treatment performed by interventional radiologists under imaging guidance, stabilizes collapsed vertebrae with the injection of medical-grade bone cement into the spine. The treatment provides pain relief and improves one's quality of life -- if given to appropriately selected candidates in whom conventional medical treatment has failed.

"Vertebroplasty dramatically improves back pain within hours of the procedure, provides long-term pain relief and has a low complication rate, as demonstrated in multiple studies," said Anselmetti.

While vertebroplasty provides pain relief from vertebral fractures, it does not treat the disease that caused them -- osteoporosis, said Anselmetti. "For the best results, collaboration between physicians is mandatory. All osteoporotic patients need to be followed by an interventional radiologist, who determines which patients are appropriate candidates to receive vertebroplasty treatment, and an experienced medical expert (in this study, a rheumatologist) to ensure continued treatment for osteoporosis," he said.

Anselmetti illustrated a typical case: an 80-year-old Italian woman, who was diagnosed with two painful osteoporotic vertebral collapses, underwent medical treatment for osteoporosis with the drug teriparatide and was still in pain when she was prescribed an external brace. After there was evidence of two new fractures, she received vertebroplasty, experiencing "complete pain regression, no need for the brace and a dramatic Lazarus-like ability to perform daily activities."

Researchers studied 2,251 osteoporotic patients suffering from back-pain for vertebral collapses who underwent a clinical interview and a review of their medical treatment, pain grade, quality of life and extent of vertebral fracture. Vertebroplasty was performed in 1,542 patients when optimal medical treatment such as biphosphonates, teriparatide, analgesics and back brace did not relieve pain or improve quality of life for patients over a three-month period. After vertebroplasty, patients continued to receive medical treatment with a rheumatologist.

"Our long-term follow-up confirmed this," said Anselmetti, "pain relief and quality of life significantly improved with vertebroplasty."

SOURCE:Presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology Annual Scientific Meeting, Tampa, FL, March 15, 2010

 E-mail this story   Printer-friendly version  

Copy and paste the link: