Study design: Retrospective cohort analysis.
Purpose: Comparison of balloon kyphoplasty (BKP) and radiofrequency kyphoplasty (RFK) with respect to height restoration of the fractured vertebral bodies and the pain relief experienced after the surgical procedure.
Overview of literature: BKP and RFK both offer safe, time-saving, and potent treatment options for vertebral compression fractures, but neither of these methods demonstrated any key advantage over the other yet.
Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of a cohort of 156 patients (mean age, 73±11 years) with 252 fractured vertebral bodies treated with kyphoplasty. Pain intensity was measured using a Visual Analogue Scale. Preoperative and postoperative computed tomography images were analyzed and gauged using modified bisegmental Cobb angle, vertebral angle, as well as anterior (Ha), middle (Hm), and posterior (Hp) vertebral body heights.
Results: The mean postoperative pain relief was 5.1±1.8, which was maintained over the entire follow-up period. There were no significant differences in the pain relief between BKP and RFK. Postoperative changes in the vertebral angle (-1.3°±3.3°, p <0.001) and Ha, Hm, and Hp vertebral body heights (Ha, 1.5±2.9 mm; Hm, 2.1±2.9 mm; Hp, 0.9±2.1 mm; p <0.001) were significant. However, the initial height restoration could not be maintained by the 6-week and 1-year follow-up. Neither BKP nor RFK could achieve a clinically relevant advantage over each other. There was no correlation between pain relief and height restoration after kyphoplasty.
Conclusions: Both BKP and RFK had comparable beneficial clinical and radiological effects in the treatment of vertebral compression fractures. However, neither the actual extent of height restoration nor its loss seems to affect the marked pain relief.
Keywords: Back pain; Compression fractures; Kyphoplasty; Osteoporosis; Spinal fractures.