Indications and Contraindication of Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty

The aims of augmentation procedures as vertebroplasty (VP) and balloon kyphoplasty (BKP) are to strengthen the vertebral body and to improve mechanical pain induced by different pathologic conditions. The indications for VP and BKP have progressively expanded over the years after their introduction in 1987 and in 1998 respectively, and now they include many different applications, including osteoporotic disease, traumatic lesions, pathologic VCFs or vertebral augmentation before spine fixation or SSRS. Careful selection of patients is paramount to obtain satisfactory results. The objective of this chapter is to describe the main indications of these surgical techniques, based on analysis of the specific pathology, clinical symptoms, general conditions of the patients, and neuroradiologic characteristics of the vertebral lesions. Relative and absolute contraindications have been also analyzed.