Post Vertebral Fracture Pain – Balloon Kyphoplasty Resources – Miraculous Results

Post vertebral fracture pain can be disabling and longstanding and spell the beginning of the end for some cases. Almost immediate relief can be obtained by tunneling a balloon into the vertebral body and pumping it up with hot plastic. Regina has lead the way in Canada for starting these sort of procedures. At a recent meeting Dr. Buwembo discussed their statistics. I am including a list of contacts for referral.

• In Kyphoplasty, a both sides of the vertebral body are tunnelled into, balloons inserted and hot plastic injected. The volume is usually 3-6 mls, though the actual volume does not determine the relief of pain. Part of the reason for balloons is because as contained, they can actually restore the vertebral height and reverse any foraminal narrowing. This containment may prevent any spilling of material into the spinal cord area, something not guarenteed by the older direct-inject vertebroplasty technique.

• Most cases were elderly compression fractures but cancer compression fractures and traumatic ones were represented. In cancer cases, biopsies were also taken. It is not usable in traumatic cases with fragmentation of the vertebral body; it has to be “contained”
• For many, there was a 6 month delay from injury to treatment.
• There were no serious side effects in over 50 cases.

Resources:

Regina: (working out of Regina General Hospital)

Chris Ekong MD Neurosurgeon ph – 306-782-7229 fax – 306-352-0499

Joseph Buwembo MD Neurosurgeon ph – 306-565-3940 fax – 306-565-3940

Shantilal Lala MD Interventional Radiologist ph – 306-766-4448 fax – 306-766-4385

Askok Verma MD Interventional Radiologist ph – 306-766-3715 fax – 306-766-4385

The technique uses Kyphon/Medtronic equipment. The representratives in this area could give information on the closest resource:

Sharon Mackinnon, Spine Education Specialist, ph 403-589-0917 sharon.mackinnon@medtronic.com

Christy Diachuk, Spine Consultant, ph 403-681-3073 christy.diachuk@medtronic.com

Saskatoon: (Royal University Hospital)
Brent Burbridge MD Interventional radiologist ph – 306-655-2402 fax – 306 – 655-2370

Daryl Fourney MD neurosurgoen ph – 306-966-8814 fax – 306-966-8140

Winnipeg:

Neil Barrington MD Neurosurgeon ph – 204-787-7263 fax – 204-787-3851

Dr. Owen Williams MD Neurosurgeon ph – 204-787-7271 fax – 204-783-7356

In Regina, the neurosurgeons appear difficult to contact. The radiologists are both very nice people. If one send a request by fax with information, I’m sure it would be honored. A potential extra advantage would be the fact they know how to arrange further imaging if needed. The stats mentioned above indicated they received cases from outside our district not uncommonly as their operation is becoming better known. The Kyphoplasty group is however bemused by the fact they know there should be many more cases out there. I hope this info helps promote it as the results are a miracle.

Always interested in feedback…

addendum-]

recent study confirms excellent results from kyphoplasty

Neurosurgery 2018 in press
Prospective and Multicenter Evaluation of Outcomes for Quality of Life and Activities of Daily Living for Balloon Kyphoplasty in the Treatment of Vertebral Compression Fractures: The EVOLVE Trial
Douglas P Beall, MD M R Chambers, MD Sam Thomas John Amburgy, MD James R Webb, Jr, MD Bradly S Goodman, MD Devin K Datta, MD Richard W Easton, MD Douglas Linville, II, MD Sanjay Talati, MD John B Tillman, PhD
https://academic.oup.com/neurosurgery/advance-article/doi/10.1093/neuros/nyy017/4934770

pain scale  improved from 8.7/10 to 2.7/10

“This large, prospective, clinical study demonstrates that kyphoplasty is a safe, effective, and durable procedure for treating patients with painful VCF due to osteoporosis or cancer.”