Purpose: To compare safety and efficacy of percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) when treating up to three vertebrae or more than three vertebrae per session.
Materials and methods: We prospectively compared two groups of patients with symptomatic vertebral fractures who had no significant response to conservative therapy. Pathologic substrate included osteoporosis (n = 77), metastasis (n = 24), multiple myeloma (n = 13), hemangioma (n = 15), and lymphoma (n = 1). Group A patients (n = 94) underwent PVP of up to three treated vertebrae (n = 188). Group B patients (n = 36) underwent PVP with more than three treated vertebrae per session (n = 220). Decreased pain and improved mobility were recorded the day after surgery and at 12 and 24 months after surgery per clinical evaluation and the use of numeric visual scales (NVS): the Greek Brief Pain Inventory, a linear analogue self-assessment questionnaire, and a World Health Organization questionnaire.
Results: Group A presented with a mean pain score of 7.9 ± 1.1 NVS units before PVP, which decreased to 2.1 ± 1.6, 2.0 ± 1.5 and 2.0 ± 1.5 NVS units the day after surgery and at 12 and 24 months after surgery, respectively. Group B presented with a mean pain score of 8.1 ± 1.3 NVS units before PVP, which decreased to 2.2 ± 1.3, 2.0 ± 1.5, and 2.1 ± 1.6 NVS units the day after surgery and at 12 and 24 months after surgery, respectively. Overall pain decrease and mobility improvement throughout the follow-up period presented no statistical significance neither between the two groups nor between different underlying aetiology. Reported cement leakages presented no statistical significance between the two groups (p = 0.365).
Conclusion: PVP is an efficient and safe technique for symptomatic vertebral fractures independently of the vertebrae number treated per session.