INTRODUCTION

Sacral insufficiency fractures are often overlooked and lead to severe therapy-resistant pain. These fractures can be most sensitively detected with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Similar to balloon kyphoplasty, sacroplasty provides fixation of these fractures with cement.

OBJECTIVES

This study was carried out to investigate whether pain is reduced using this method and whether computed tomography (CT)-guided cement application results in less cement extravasation and fewer complications than C-arm controlled application.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

In a retrospective multicenter study, 46 patients (41 female, 5 male) with an average age of 75 years were treated by sacroplasty. The procedure was performed with CT-guidance for 25 patients and with C-arm control for 21 patients. Pain was evaluated using a visual analog scale. Patients were followed up for 6 months.

RESULTS

The average operation time was 35 min and postinterventional hospital stay averaged 4 days. In the CT group pain decreased from an average score of 8.8 ± 0.7 preoperatively to 2.6 ± 0.6 postoperatively (p < 0.001) and in the C-arm group pain decreased from 8.2 ±1.0 to 2.2± 1.4 (p < 0.001). There were no cases of cement extravasation in the CT group (0 out of 25 = 0 %) and 8 asymptomatic cases in the C-arm group (8 out of 21 = 38 %). In addition, there were two injuries to the superior gluteal artery with hematoma in the area of puncture, one requiring operative treatment. There were two mortalities in the CT group from lung disease and stroke during the study but this was unrelated to the operation.

CONCLUSION

Balloon sacroplasty results in a reliable and significant reduction in pain for sacral insufficiency fractures. The C-arm controlled cement application resulted in more frequent extravasation and complications than CT-guided application.