Did You Know?
According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, osteoporosis affects 10 million Americans and is responsible for 700,000 vertebral fractures each year.

Osteoporosis Treatment at Georgia Vascular Institute

Osteoporosis is characterized by low bone mass and structural deterioration of the bone resulting in an increased susceptibility to fractures. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, 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. Nearly all vertebral fractures in otherwise healthy people are due to osteoporosis, and can occur from a minor impact, such as a bump or a fall, in those who suffer from this bone-weakening disease. People who have a spinal fracture often don’t realize that they may have osteoporosis, because the disease is symptom-less until a fracture occurs.

Risks

What Are the Risk Factors of Developing Osteoporosis?

  • Being female
  • Being thin or having a small frame
  • Advanced age
  • A family history of osteoporosis
  • Being past menopause
  • Abnormal absence of menstrual periods
  • Anorexia or bulimia
  • A diet low in calcium
  • Long-term use of medications such as corticosteroids or anticonvulsants
  • Lack of exercise
  • Smoking
  • Excessive use of alcohol

Kyphoplasty/ Vertebroplasty

What is Kyphoplasty/ Vertebroplasty?

Kyphoplasty/ Vertebroplasty is a pain treatment for vertebral compression fractures that fail to respond to conventional medical therapy, such as minimal or no pain relief with analgesics or narcotic doses that are intolerable. Kyphoplasty/ Vertebroplasty, a nonsurgical treatment performed by interventional radiologists using imaging guidance, stabilizes the collapsed vertebra with the injection of medical-grade bone cement into the spine. This reduces pain, and can prevent further collapse of the vertebra, thereby preventing the height loss and spine curvature commonly seen as a result of osteoporosis.

Kyphoplasty/ 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.

Kyphoplasty/ Vertebroplasty is an outpatient procedure using X-ray imaging and conscious sedation. The interventional radiologist inserts a needle through a nick in the skin in the back, directing it under fluoroscopy (continuous, moving X-ray imaging) into the fractured vertebra. The physician then injects the medical-grade bone cement into the vertebra. Kyphoplasty/ Vertebroplasty takes from one to two hours to perform depending on how many bones are treated. The cement hardens within 15 minutes and stabilizes the fracture, like an internal cast.

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Dr. Kevin Carson
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