According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, more than 700,000 spinal fractures occur annually in the United States, with approximately 260,000 patients diagnosed with their first vertebral compression fracture, or VCF, each year. Ten million Americans suffer from osteoporosis, and another 18 million are at risk of the disorder.
A relatively new treatment, called Balloon Kyphoplasty, is helping to make a difference in these patients lives. Roughly 2,700 physicians have been trained nationwide to do the procedure, including Dr. Marshall E. Stauber, an orthopaedic surgeon at the Broward Spine Institute in Hollywood, Florida.
“I believe that balloon kyphoplasty is the most advanced treatment available for the treatment of compression fractures,” explained Stauber, who performs approximately 250 of the procedures each year. “Patients show dramatically improved function almost immediately, and it significantly reduces the chance of deformity if performed early enough.”
In osteoporosis, the bodys bones weaken, becoming porous and brittle. The resulting loss of bone density can cause painful bone fractures in areas of the body including the wrist, hip and spine. Left untreated, compression fractures can cause a number of problems, ranging from chronic pain and loss of height, to difficulty in walking and breathing problems. VCFs can also cause curvature of the spine, often known as dowagers hump, and can cause even more bones to compress upon each other.
“The best course of action is to treat compression fractures as early as possible, because the longer a patient waits, the more the vertebrae could collapse,” said Stauber. “After one fracture, a patients risk of future fractures is increased five times.”
To date, about 90,000 vertebral compression fractures have been treated using this surgery. Though the majority of spinal fracture patients are older, the surgery is not limited by age and is most often used to treat fractures caused by osteoporosis and secondary osteoporosis, as a result of chronic steroid use to treat other diseases, trauma or cancer.
During the kyphoplasty procedure, a surgeon makes a small incision in a patients back, through which he or she inserts a narrow tube into the vertebrae, using X-ray guidance. A balloon is then inserted through the tube into the vertebral body. This balloon is inflated to fill the cavity and then removed, and the remaining cavity is filled with polymethylmethacrylate, or bone putty. Most operations can be performed in under 30 minutes, and require only IV sedation.
Because people who suffer from VCFs are at an increased risk of future fractures, Dr. Stauber stresses the importance of post-operative treatment after the surgery is performed. “While balloon kyphoplasty certainly treats the surgical end of the problem, its also important to treat the person on the non-surgical end,” he said. To this end, the Broward Spine Institute offers specialists in every area of the back, including medical management of osteoporosis, a chiropractor, a doctor of oriental medicine, and a physiatrist, who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation.
The Institute also provides other surgical options, including posterior spinal fusion with and without instrumentation, total disc replacement, microdiscectomies, vertebroplasty and minimally invasive spinal fusions, the details of which can be found on their webpage, www.browardspine.com.
“On March 1st, we also opened The Back Gym Health and Fitness Center, which is designed for people with back problems and osteoporosis,” added Stauber. “This state-of-the-art gym, which is adjacent to the Institute, features a strong aquatic and land program to enable people who have back problems to work out without getting hurt. Unlike other gyms that push you past your limits, we work within your limits.”
All of the programs at the 10,000-square-foot Back Gym are low-impact, and the Centers employees are specially trained to work with those with back problems. Members can choose to exercise on treadmills, recumbent or stationary bikes within the pool, or to work out on land. Stauber says that he plans to open up a Wellness Store within the gym soon, offering homeopathic products to members within the next three months.
“For people who desire to continue to be active individuals despite their back problems, we provide the means to do it,” he said.