Percutaneous vertebroplasty: methods,indications, results

Percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) is a radiologically guided therapeutic procedure, which consists of percutaneous injection of a liquid polymer (bone cement) into a destroyed vertebral body. PVP was invented in 1984, in France, first for treating vertebral body haemangioma. Since its introduction the indications have been expanded progressively and today PVP is indicated mainly for treatment of vertebral haemangioma, malignant vertebral tumor and osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture. The unique advantage of this technique is that besides the stabilization of the vertebral body--and partly in connection with this--it affords prompt and lasting pain relief. Based on published data the success rate of the procedure is 80-100% with a complication rate of 1-10%. Thus, PVP is a valuable minimally invasive tool, providing immediate pain relief and early mobility in carefully selected patients. However, further work is needed to define the benefits of PVP compared to the standard treatment. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the technique by analyzing scientific reports published to date and summarizing the first author's own experience gained at the University Hospital of Geneva, Department of Neuroradiology, Switzerland.