Fortunately for this large portion of the population, there is now a better option.

Called vertebroplasty, the procedure is an image-guided, minimally invasive, non-surgical therapy used to strengthen a broken vertebra. Often performed on an outpatient basis, vertebroplasty is accomplished by injecting an orthopedic cement mixture including polymethylmethacrylate, barium powder and a solvent through a needle into the fractured bone. The cement mixture, resembling toothpaste, fills any cavities or spaces in the damaged bone. After an hour or two, the liquid hardens into a body-friendly cement. The success rate for treating osteoporotic fractures is 73 percent to 90 percent.

According to Dr. Corito Tolentino, radiologist at El Camino Hospital—one of the few hospitals in the Bay Area to do the procedure—the problem with using traditional methods to treat vertebral compression fractures in osteoporosis patients is they often make the situation worse.

"Lack of movement accelerates bone loss in patients with osteoporosis, and they can develop other illnesses such as pneumonia," Tolentino said. "Another treatment is to use pain medications but there are side effects to these, too, such as constipation."

Tolentino added that vertebroplasty can help prevent elderly people who live alone from needing to enter a care facility.

"If someone lives alone and they are required to stay in bed for six weeks, they're going to end up having to go for a short stay in a convalescent hospital so someone can care for them. Once placed in this type of environment, their health typically further deteriorates," she said.

With vertebroplasty, most patients are able to get up and walk after resting in bed for about an hour. Patients are not allowed to drive but may go home that evening if they live close to the hospital. Hospitalization is typically only required if a patient is unusually frail or has no one at home to help. Bed rest is recommended for the first 24 hours after vertebroplasty. For two to three days afterwards, patients may feel a general soreness where the needle was inserted.

For the procedure, the patient is awake but sedated and receives a local anesthetic to numb the skin and the muscles near the spinal fracture. Intravenous antibiotics may also be administered to prevent infection. A small incision is made in the skin and the needle is passed through the spinal muscles until its tip is positioned within the fractured vertebra. The physician monitors the procedure on a fluoroscopy-imaging screen and makes sure that the cement mixture does not back up into the spinal canal. The total volume of injected cement ranges from three to six cc. The procedure usually takes less than two hours, depending on the number of sites being treated.

The first vertebroplasty was performed in 1984 by French radiologists. Since the mid-1990s, United States-based radiologists have been successfully treating vertebral fractures with the procedure.

Vertebroplasty strengthens and stabilizes the bone but it does not restore the height or shape of the compressed vertebra. A modification of the vertebroplasty procedure, called kyphoplasty, is being evaluated. Kyphoplasty involves inflating a high-pressure balloon that has been injected into the vertebra that helps restore the height and shape of the bone.

Vertebroplasty cannot be used as a preventative treatment to avoid fractures. It is used only to repair known, non-healing fractures. It is not used for herniated disks or arthritic back pain and is generally not recommend for healthy younger patients.

"Broken bones in younger, healthy patients will heal," Tolentino said. "For patients with osteoporosis, their bones will not heal."

For more information on vertebroplasty, contact El Camino Hospital's Health Line at 1.800.216.5556.