Risk factors for thoracolumbar pain following percutaneous vertebroplasty for osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures.

OBJECTIVE To explore possible risk factors for poor outcomes following percutaneous vertebroplasty (PV) for painful osteoporotic compression fractures of thoracolumbar vertebra. METHODS This was a retrospective review of data from patients who underwent PV at our institution over a ten-year period to evaluate the association between possible risk factors and thoracolumbar pain (T11-L2). According to the difference between pre- and post-operative visual analogue scale (VAS) scores for pain, patients were separated into poor relief (PR; 2 fractured vertebral bodies, maldistribution of bone cement, <5 ml bone cement injected into a single vertebral body and thoracolumbar fascia injury prior to surgery were independent risk factors associated with thoracolumbar pain following PV. CONCLUSION Although prospective controlled studies are required to confirm our results, this review suggests that the above factors should be taken into account when selecting patients for PV.