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DOI:10.2214/AJR.08.1503
AJR 2009; 193:218-226
© American Roentgen Ray Society

Original Research

Vesselplasty: A New Technical Approach to Treat Symptomatic Vertebral Compression Fractures

Lucía Flors1,2, Elena Lonjedo1, Carlos Leiva-Salinas1, Luís Martí-Bonmatí1, José J. Martínez-Rodrigo1, Estela López-Pérez1, Guillermo Figueres1 and Ilan Raoli3

1 Department of Radiology, Hospital Universitario Doctor Peset, Avd. Gaspar Aguilar 90, Valencia 46017, Spain.
2 Department of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
3 Department of Radiology, Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY.

OBJECTIVE. The objective of our study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of vesselplasty to treat symptomatic vertebral compression fractures (VCFs).

SUBJECTS AND METHODS. Twenty-nine patients undergoing vesselplasty at our institution between April 2006 and February 2008 were enrolled in the study. All patients had been undergoing medical therapy for one or more painful VCFs. Pain, mobility, and analgesic use scores were obtained, and restoration of vertebral body height was evaluated. A two-tailed paired Student's t test was used to compare differences in the mean scores for levels of pain, mobility, and analgesic use before and after the procedure and to evaluate changes in vertebral body height. We analyzed the influence of the age of the fracture and its cause in the variations in the pain, mobility, and analgesic use scores.

RESULTS. Seven of the 29 patients had fractures in more than one level, for a total of 37 procedures. The cause of the vertebral collapse was osteoporosis in 27 (73%), high-impact trauma in five (13.5%), myeloma in three (8%), and metastatic fracture in two (5.4%). The average pain score before treatment was 8.72 ± 1.25 (SD), whereas the average pain score after treatment was 3.38 ± 2.35. The average mobility score before treatment was 2.31 ± 1.94, whereas the average mobility score after treatment was 0.59 ± 1.05 (p < 0.001). The average analgesic use score before treatment was 3.07 ± 1.46, whereas it was 1.86 ± 1.90 after treatment (p < 0.001). There was no evidence of clinical complications.

CONCLUSION. Vesselplasty offers statistically significant benefits in improvements of pain, mobility, and the need for analgesia in patients with symptomatic VCFs, thus providing a safe alternative in the treatment of these fractures.

Keywords: balloon kyphoplasty • osteoporosis • spine fracture • vesselplasty • vertebral compression fracture • vertebroplasty


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