Has anyone had vertebroplasty? Osteoporosis and fractured lumbar

@kjs1964 Hello and welcome to Connect. I found another current discussion where members are talking about their experiences with vertebroplasty which you may find at this link. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/kyphoplasty-1/
You can also mention someone by typing the @ symbol with their user name, and they will get an e mail message about the post. You can see that I typed your name this way at the beginning of this post. I hope this will help you in your decision.

Hi @kjs1964, allow me to bring in other members who have had or considered having vertebroplasty, like @richcolleen @martishka @psprice77 @martinkda who can share their experiences and decision making with you.

KJS, did you have an appointment today? What did you decide?

Good Morning! I have osteoporosis and with chemo have fractured 5 and broke one vertebrae. The broken one they did Vertebroplasty (cement) and had to stay on bed as much as I could for 2 days. .Pain Clinic couldn’t get me in for 2 months. Since than it shows on my scans as healed. Surgery was a piece of cake.
Good luck! Colleen

@colleenyoung, Thank you for sharing Coleen.

Hi, my appointment is on 3/4/2020, I have not yet decided. Thanks for all your help

I fractured three lumbar vertebrae and was in a lot of pain. But I did not have the procedure. My doc said it was mainly for pain relief and that he felt the outcome was the same with or without. I read about the risks of cement leakage and also the risk of the glass-like substance making that vertebra more brittle and possibly causing adjacent vertebrae to break. Doc was reassuring on all of that, but didn't push the vertebroplasty.

@richcolleen what do you mean when you say you fractured 5 and broke one vertebra? I thought breaking and fracturing were the same thing.

My break would not heal and was in bed 18 - 20 hours every day due to pain. Fracture didn’t break from bone. So I’m told. The fraacture happened and didn’t know till my scans every 3 months.

@kjs1964 - Thank you, Windy, I don't want the vertebroplasty for the same reasons. The pain I am having has nothing to do with Lumbar 2 where the new fracture is.

@colleenyoung, and everyone with concerns...Over 15 years ago, I fell and broke my T12 vertebrae. I was in excruciating pain for months. I'm 75 and walked bent over like a 95-year-old woman. Finally, I saw a back doctor at a large local orthopedic center. He wasn't available to do this surgery for several months.

My PCP referred me to a leading radiologist at his hospital center. Coincidentally, my father knew his parents, they were the leading radiologists in the area. I was surprised to know that radiologists are or were considered excellent physicians to perform this surgery. Amazing to me, but I felt completely comfortable having the procedure with him.

It was outpatient, took a short time, the procedure was easy, I work up with NO PAIN in my back. NONE. I walked upright, holding my head up and back straight. I had walked into the hospital with my shoulders bent, my head down, in enormous pain, and barely able to walk Walked out in no pain and straighter than in years.

Tnis procedure shows up in every test I have and it now is showing some deteriation. I occasionally have stabs of pain if I lift or move. I think this is a long positive report. So, I highly recommend this procedure if your conditions are similar to mine. I will do it again at any point.
I wish you well, Blessings, elizabeth