Vesselplasty: a new minimally invasive approach to treat pathological vertebral fractures in selected tumor patients - preliminary results.

PURPOSE

To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of percutaneous vesselplasty in pathological vertebral fractures of the thoracolumbar spine in selected tumor patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Eleven pathological vertebral fractures in nine patients were treated with vesselplasty (Vessel-X®, MAXXSPINE). Nine of eleven vertebras (81.8 %) had major posterior wall deficiency (> 30 %). Clinical and radiological (CT) measures were obtained before and 3 months after the procedure.

RESULTS

The mean VAS improved significantly from preoperative to postoperative (6.9 ± 2.2 to 3.7 ± 2.3; p < 0.05), as did the ODI (59.7 %± 19.2 % to 40.3 %± 24.0 %; p < 0.05). The physical component summary of the SF-36 was significantly improved by the operation (19.2 ± 8.0 to 31.0 ± 16.5; p < 0.05). Symptomatic cement leakage or other operation-associated complications were not observed. Three patients were primarily treated with concomitant minimally invasive stabilization via fixateur interne. One patient had to undergo minimally invasive stabilization via fixateur interne 4 months after vesselplasty due to further collapse of the treated vertebral body.

CONCLUSION

From these preliminary results, vesselplasty appears to be a treatment option worth considering in pathological vertebral fractures, even in the case of posterior wall deficiency. Selected tumor patients might benefit from vesselplasty as a minimally invasive procedure for stabilization of the fractured vertebra, pain control, and improvement in body function and quality of life. Long-term prospective studies with a larger sample size are required to validate these results.