What are vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty?
Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty are two minimally invasive, nonsurgical medical procedures to stabilize and strengthen vertebrae that have experienced fractures with the result of intractable pain. While neither procedure cures the underlying problem that caused the fractures, both have very high success rates for ending the pain and restoring mobility and function to the patient. Vertebroplasty uses a straw-sized hollow needle to inject medical cement into a fractured vertebra to reinforce it. Additionally, as the cement is injected, it heats up and essentially cauterizes inflamed nerve tissue to eliminate the pain it causes. Kyphoplasty relies on the same technique after first using an inflatable balloon inserted within the fragments of the compressed disc to elevate the endplates of the vertebral structure, restore some or all of its previous height to it and create a cavity into which cement can be injected. Vertebroplasty, developed in France in 1984 and introduced into the United
