OBJECTIVE: To compare the incidence of adjacent vertebral fractures between vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty. METHODS: We reviewed medical records and radiographs pre and postoperatively from January 2002 to January 2009. The minimal follow-up time was three months. The patients were divided in two distinct groups: vertebroplasty (V) and kyphoplasty (K) group, according to the procedure performed. The vertebral body height and the angular kyphosis before and after each procedure were compared between these two groups and correlated to the incidence of adjacent vertebral fractures. RESULTS: We analyzed 55 medical records. Ten patients were excluded from the study. Twenty-six patients underwent vertebroplasty and nineteen patients underwent kyphoplasty. We found a reduction in the mean angular kyphosis of the kyphoplasty group of 1.81 degrees when compared to the vertebroplasty group. There was no statistical difference related to the mean vertebral body height pre- and postoperatively between the two groups. Three patients of the vertebroplasty group and two patients of the kyphoplasty group presented adjacent vertebral fracture. The two patients of the kyphoplasty group were corticoid-dependent. The three patients of the vertebroplasty group presented cement leakage. CONCLUSION: There was no difference in the adjacent vertebral fracture incidence between the two groups.
Vertebroplasty; Kyphoplasty; Kyphosis; Spinal fractures, Retrospective studies; Adjacent vertebral fractures; Angular, cement leakage
