Many patients suffering from pain caused by osteoporosis are finding relief thanks to an amazing procedure at Pikeville Medical Center (PMC). Osteoporosis means “porous bone” and is a disease where bones become dangerously fragile, frequently resulting in fractures. When these fractures happen in a person’s back, specialists in the PMC Interventional Radiology Department (IR) may be able to relieve the pain by injecting cement directly into the fractured vertebra.
The procedure, called kyphoplasty, is an outpatient surgery where cement is used to stabilize the fractured vertebra and restore some of the vertebra’s lost height caused by osteoporosis. In many patients, the kyphoplasty procedure drastically reduces pain, which, in turn, can eliminate or reduce the need to use opioid pain medication.
By offering the kyphoplasty procedure, interventional radiologists at PMC are doing more than simply repairing a fracture. Some patients report feeling relief from their back pain almost immediately improving their quality of life. The entire kyphoplasty procedure, including the injecting of the cement, is done with a small incision. Barring complications, the patient can typically go home after a few hours under observation in a recovery room.
