Biomechanical evaluation of vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty by uniaxial compressive test

In vertebroplasty, by injecting cement into the fractured osteoporotic vertebra, the cement can leak into the surrounding soft tissues. To avoid this injurious side-effect, in kyphoplasty a suitable place is previously prepared for the cement, by an inflated and removed balloon. In this study the biomechanical evaluation of vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty is presented by comparing the strength, stiffness and deformability of post-operated vertebrae by using uniaxial compressive mechanical test. As for conclusion, mechanical properties following vertebroplasty are more sensitive to initial bone density than after kyphoplasty, however, both techniques give practically the same failure load, vertebroplasty yields larger stiffness and smaller compressive deformability. DOI:  10.17489/biohun/2013/1/33