Who gets vertebral fractures?
Osteoporosis is the leading cause of vertebral fracture. In osteoporosis, there is progressive bone loss, creating structural weakness and skeletal fragility. After menopause, women become especially susceptible to bone loss and the development of fracture. Osteoporotic fractures most commonly involve the hip, wrist and spine. Lifetime risk of any symptomatic fracture is 40% in women, and 13% for men. Lifetime risk of symptomatic vertebral fracture is 16% in women and 5% in men. Eighteen per cent of women over 50 years old and 27% over 65 years old will suffer one or more symptomatic vertebral fractures due to osteoporosis. Approximately 700,000 vertebral fractures occur annually in the United States. What is vertebroplasty? Vertebroplasty is the injection of cement-like material (bone mineral substitute) into a collapsing vertebral body. The procedure is performed to reinforce the fractured bone, alleviate chronic back pain and prevent further vertebral collapse. The cement-like mater
