A large, multicenter Italian study has concluded that vertebroplasty is effective in treating vertebral compression fractures, providing significant and sustained pain relief.
A research team retrospectively evaluated 4,547 patients from six Italian European Vertebroplasty Research Team (EVEREST) centers and found that 4,004 (88.1%) experienced clinically significant pain relief following vertebroplasty. The reduction in pain, which was statistically significant (p < 0.0001), remained improved at each follow-up evaluation up to 12 months.
In other findings, only 430 (13%) of the 4,547 patients were retreated for a subsequent fracture. In 302 (70.2%) of those, the new fracture occurred in the contiguous vertebra, according to the researchers.
Dr. Stefano Marcia, an interventional radiologist at San Giovanni di Dio Hospital in Cagliari, Italy, will present the study findings during a seminar sponsored by Stryker International Spine at the American Society of Spine Radiology's (ASSR) 2010 annual symposium this week in Las Vegas.
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