Percutaneous Vertebroplasty: A History of Procedure, Technology, Culture, Specialty, and Economics

Neuroimaging Clin N Am. 2019 Nov;29(4):481-494. doi: 10.1016/j.nic.2019.07.011.

Abstract

Percutaneous vertebroplasty (VP) progressed from a virtually unknown procedure to one performed on hundreds of thousands of patients annually. The development of VP provides a historically exciting case study into a rapidly adopted procedure. VP was the synthesis of information gained from spinal biopsy developments, the inception of biomaterials used in medicine, and the unique health care climate in France during the 1980s. It was designed as a revolutionary technique to treat vertebral body fractures with minimal side effects and was rapidly adopted and marketed in the United States. The impact of percutaneous vertebroplasty on spine surgery was profound.

Keywords: Kyphoplasty; Percutaneous vertebroplasty; Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA); Vertebral biomechanics.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Bone Cements / economics
  • Bone Cements / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Polymethyl Methacrylate / economics
  • Polymethyl Methacrylate / therapeutic use
  • Spinal Fractures / economics*
  • Spinal Fractures / therapy*
  • Vertebroplasty / economics*
  • Vertebroplasty / methods*

Substances

  • Bone Cements
  • Polymethyl Methacrylate