Has anyone had kyphoplasty for an osteoporosis compression fracture?

Yes, I had a "spine jack" for T-7 and just cement in T-6.
That was 2 mths ago and the pain went away a few weeks later when I got a fracture of T-10 & 12. Had low back pain then only.
I am going in 2 weeks for another in T-12.
Spine jack is a lil device like a car jack that opens the compression fracture then cement is injected.

maymore, I was with someone while they had kyphoplasty, which invalidates my answer. She had immediate relief with, without returning pain. The healing time is only the time required for the injected product to solidify.
Kyphoplasty recovers some of the height of the compressed vertebra. This is advantageous for preventing pain at the facet joints where the pain nerves exit because it preserves the space.
Sometime compression fractures continue compressing. The bone cement stops the compression.
The weight of the bone cement can cause the lower vertebra to compress.
It used to be more common for the practitioner to overfill the vertebral gap and that was causing some problems with stray cement, but that has been largely resolved.
It isn't a difficult procedure for the patient.
I'd definitely have it, and I'd be scared, too.

Thanks for you sharing your story. This really helps.

I had kyphoplasty done on my L1 fractured vertebrae. It immediately stopped my pain in that spot.

I had a spontaneous compression fracture (VCF) of T 11 early Feb. Xray didn’t show anything so I was unaware and in horrendous pain for 5 weeks when Dr ordered a CT scan that showed a fracture with 40% collapse of vertebra. I had a kyphoplasty using cadaver bone “pearls”, supposedly safer than cement. Two weeks later I was hospitalized for 6 days for intractable pain, caused by severe inflammation of the vertebra. I have multiple autoimmune diseases and I think I had an autoimmune reaction to the.bone pearls since it is foreign tissue with its own DNA. The bone pearls kyphoplasty is relatively new, and no one anticipated this complication in light of my multiple autoimmune conditions. I would be extremely cautious about this for anyone with AI disease as your immune system will recognize the foreign tissue and overreact with inflammation. There is nothing in the literature about this and I will be reporting this to the FDA but it will take forever for this to be common knowledge in the pain management community. Because of the collapse., my facet joints became so painful I couldn’t even walk or move so I just had an ablation of the nerves that transmit pain signals from the facet joints. If it works, I might get 9-12 months of partial relief but it takes about 2 weeks to know, just had it 2 days ago. Medicare makes this process a nightmare that drags it out about 8 weeks with multiple test procedures so I decided to pay out of pocket to get it done as I couldn’t stand the 9-10 level pain and disability, red tape, etc. This has been a nightmare for 3.5 months. My poor hubbie is exhausted from caretaking in spite of helpers coming in daily for 2-3 hrs. Please research this thoroughly if contemplating kyphoplasty especially if you have AI disease. You won’t find anything in the literature but think about it and discuss with your doctor the potential hazards. This is the worst thing I have ever been through! I’m 75 female with many health issues. Also do everything you possibly can to prevent VCF. Treat osteoporosis and penia seriously and take everything you can to keep your spine intact!

Please see my comment on my experience with kyphoplasty. Just search kyphoplasty on this site. I just posted it.

I had a kyphoplasty 12/5/24 at T8. I, in a moment of maternal madness picked up my young 50# lab who couldn’t walk. I had lifted 35# sandbags - that was after being diagnosed with osteoporosis 6 months earlier. I was strong and extremely fit. I was told the pain would be gone in 1-3 days after the procedure. The pain is 90% gone after 5 months and I’ve had a couple of X-rays and a cervical MRI since, for pain and neuropathy hands and feet. I was told my vertebral height in most of spine is excellent except L4-5 but I have other degenerative issues. Also the space in thoracic spine is tighter so there is a realignment of the spine from the cement crowding that tight space that can cause other fractures or make other issues in spine come to light. I was told the pain from the procedure in the thoracic spine is more prolonged than if done in the lumbar spine. I feel I made the right choice.

Thank you for your response. I had the procedure and am able to function like before but I’m a little disappointed as my back is not the same. I have a stiffness and some sore muscles that won’t go away. It’s been a good six weeks.

Yes I understand your disappointment. I had wrap around rib pain for quite awhile afterwards. You will get better! I had physical therapy that helped but my back does get fatigued. I often have tingling in my hands and feet now from my spine realigning and affecting the degenerative changes I was unaffected by before the procedure. I have lost I’m sure, much of the muscle/strength I had before this. It’s pretty easy to lose it at 70 but very hard to get it back.

I can relate to experiencing wrap-around rib pain as well. Initially, I wondered if the doctor made a mistake since many others don’t seem to mention this in their accounts. Its helpful to hear about more diverse experiences.