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Is There Really No Benefit of Vertebroplasty for Osteoporotic Vertebral Fractures? A Meta-analysis

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Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research®

Abstract

Background

Osteoporotic vertebral compressed fractures (VCFs) are the most common osteoporotic fractures. Although percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) reportedly relieves pain and improves function, a recent pooled analysis from two multicenter randomized controlled trials concluded the improvement in pain and disability treated with PVP was similar to those with sham surgery.

Questions/Purpose

Using meta-analysis we therefore asked whether compared with either nonoperative therapy or a sham injection for patients with VCF, PVP would (1) better relieve pain, (2) provide greater improvement in pain-related disability, and (3) increase the recurrence of vertebral fractures.

Methods

We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Medline, and the Cochrane library using the keywords “vertebroplasty AND osteoporosis OR fracture”. We included nine of the 469 articles identified. Using a random effects model, we calculated the weighted mean differences to evaluate the pain reduction at different times as the primary outcome. Pain-related disability was assessed by a quality of life (QOL) measure. Improvement of QOL and recurrence of vertebral fractures were the secondary outcomes. We used subgroup analysis to reinvestigate pain relief and function improvement of PVP based on two different controls: nonoperative therapy and sham injection. The total number of patients was 886.

Results

Pain scoring was similar between the PVP group and the sham injection group at 1 to 29 days and 90 days. However, compared with nonoperative therapy, PVP reduced pain at all times studied. QOL in the PVP group was improved or tended to be improved compared with QOL for both control groups. The risk of new fractures was similar between the PVP groups and both control groups.

Conclusions

Different control groups may have accounted for the different conclusions in the literature regarding the ability of PVP to relieve pain and restore function recovery. Compared with nonoperative treatment PVP relieved pain better and improved QOL. PVP did not increase the risk of new fractures.

Level of Evidence

Level II, therapeutic study. See Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

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Acknowledgments

We thank all the corresponding authors from the included trials for their kind assistance in obtaining additional data that contributed to our meta-analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, No.88 Jiefang Road, Hangzhou, 310009, People’s Republic of China

    Ming-Min Shi MD, Xun-Zi Cai MD, Tiao Lin MD, Wei Wang MD & Shi-Gui Yan MD

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  1. Ming-Min Shi MD
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  2. Xun-Zi Cai MD
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  3. Tiao Lin MD
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  4. Wei Wang MD
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Correspondence to Shi-Gui Yan MD.

Additional information

The institution of the authors has received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation (81101345); Zhejiang Natural Science Foundation (Y2110239); Zhejiang Key Program Science and Technology (2011C13033); and Zhejiang Medical Research Foundation (2010KYA105); National Clinical Key Specialism Construction Program.

Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research neither advocates nor endorses the use of any treatment, drug, or device. Readers are encouraged to always seek additional information, including FDA-approval status, of any drug or device prior to clinical use.

Each author certifies that his or her institution approved or waived approval for the human protocol for this investigation and that all investigations were conducted in conformity with ethical principles of research.

The first two authors contributed equally to this work and should be considered as co-first authors.

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Shi, MM., Cai, XZ., Lin, T. et al. Is There Really No Benefit of Vertebroplasty for Osteoporotic Vertebral Fractures? A Meta-analysis. Clin Orthop Relat Res 470, 2785–2799 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-012-2404-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-012-2404-6

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