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Treating the Symptoms and the Source 4127
November 1, 2006
1 Min Read
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COVER STORY
Kyphon Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA) estimates that more than 260,000 patients are diagnosed with a vertebral compression fracture every year. Vertebral compression fractures have traditionally been treated with bed rest, medication, and bracing, all of which help to decrease a patient's pain but do not address the spinal deformity.
Balloon kyphoplasty—a procedure pioneered by Kyphon—is a minimally invasive option that addresses both the deformity and the pain by stabilizing the fracture and helping to correct the vertebral-body deformity. Kyphon estimates that since 1998, the procedure has been used to treat more than 275,000 fractures in 230,000 patients.
The steps of kyphoplasty procedure are as follows.
Balloon Insertion: Through a 1-cm incision, a working cannula is placed through the pedicle, and an orthopedic balloon is guided into the fractured vertebral body.
Full Inflation: The balloon is inflated, pushing the crushed endplates apart with the goal of restoring a more-normal anatomy. The approach is bilateral, using two balloons.
Void within Vertebral Body: Once the shape of the vertebral body has been restored as much as possible, the balloons are deflated and removed. Inflation and deflation of the balloons creates a void, which serves as a repository for the bone cement.
Cement Fill: The void is then filled with KyphX HV-R bone cement under low, manual pressure.
The procedure typically takes less than one hour per fracture treated and may require a brief hospital stay. After the procedure, the patient should return to the treating physician for medical management and follow-up.
Copyright ©2006 MX
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