The combination of radiofrequency ablation and vertebroplasty shows advantages over single vertebroplasty in treating vertebral neoplastic lesions.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the safety and efficacy of the combination of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and vertebroplasty versus single vertebroplasty in treating spinal metastases.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The data of 35 patients with vertebral neoplastic lesions who received RFA combined with vertebroplasty (group A, 15 patients with 17 lesions) or single vertebroplasty (group B, 20 patients with 24 lesions) from March 2016 to June 2019 were retrospectively compared. The data of patients' Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores prior to the treatments, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after the treatments, injected cement volume, ratios of cement leakage were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

All procedures were successfully done without severe complications. The VAS scores in group A were decreased more rapidly 1 week after the treatments and remained more stable at 6 months than that in group B (P < 0.05). The cement injected in group A (5.95 ± 1.45 mL, range 4-9.5 mL) was significantly more than that in group B (4.09 ± 0.55 mL, range 3.1-5.5 mL) (P < 0.05). The ratio of vascular cement leakage in group A was significantly lower than that in group B (P < 0.05), while no statistical difference was found in the non-vascular cement leakage (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study shows that the combination of RFA and vertebroplasty has a better analgesic effect with more injected cement and lower rates of venous cement leakage than single vertebroplasty.