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Read features by Aultman Hospital in the Canton Repository from July 2011 below. Other orthopaedic feature articles can be found here.
Minimally Invasive Treatment Available for Osteoporosis-Related Spinal Fractures
Each year 700,000 Americans suffer from spinal fractures due to osteoporosis, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation. Unfortunately, more than 400,000 of these fractures (57 percent) go undiagnosed and untreated due in part to lack of awareness about osteoporosis and available treatment options.
Seven physicians, including Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr. Mark Coggins, are trained to offer a minimally invasive treatment option at Aultman Hospital called balloon kyphoplasty for patients suffering from spinal fractures caused by osteoporosis and tumors.
The consequences of untreated fractures can be devastating because once a patient suffers one vertebral compression fracture, the risk of suffering a second fracture increases five-fold, according to Coggins.
“Although it’s not emergent, the fracture should be treated in 4-6 weeks or sooner. Left unattended, many fractures can result in an exaggerated rounded curvature of the spine, called kyphosis or dowager’s hump.
“It’s painful and debilitating — making walking, eating, sleeping, and even breathing painful and difficult. If it’s been too long or if the fracture is too collapsed, the procedure can’t be done, so we can only address the symptoms not the fracture,” explains Coggins.
Balloon kyphoplasty has been performed in the United States for about 10 years and since 2004 at Aultman to repair these fractures and restore the vertebrae to the correct position.
Aultman is a leading provider in Northeast Ohio and about 1,400 patients have experienced the following benefits:
• Reduced back pain and dependence on narcotics
• Reduced number of days in bed
• Significantly improved mobility
• Increased overall quality of life
The Procedure
“It typically takes about one hour per fracture, and we can do up to four levels, if needed, in one session,” said Coggins, who has performed more than 420 balloon kyphoplasty cases at Aultman.
During the procedure, a small, orthopaedic balloon is guided through a tube into the vertebra. It is carefully inflated in an attempt to raise the collapsed vertebra and return it to its normal position.
“Inflation of the balloon creates a void (cavity) in the vertebral body. Once the vertebra is in the correct position, the balloon is deflated and removed,” Coggins described. “The cavity is filled with bone cement forming an ‘internal cast’ to support the surrounding bone and prevent further collapse.”
Advancements in balloon and bone cement technology have also created additional patient safety benefits.
If you are in pain and have experienced a loss in height or spinal deformity, Coggins suggests quickly seeing your family doctor for further evaluation, which may include an X-ray, a bone scan or an MRI. For more information about osteoporosis and spinal fractures, visit the National Osteoporosis Foundation’s website at www.nof.org.
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Kyphoplasty Mends Spinal Fracture
Just three weeks after suffering a compressed fracture of the spine when she passed out and fell, 86-year-old Violet Kolich found pain relief when Dr. Mark Coggins performed balloon kyphoplasty in January.
“I’d never heard of the procedure before this, but it worked great,” said the Perry Township resident, who has osteopenia, which is a pre-osteoporosis condition. “I was in a lot of pain that severely limited my daily activities, and I was taking a lot of Ibuprofen.”
Since the fracture, Kolich has been taking medication and undergoing treatment to help prevent osteoporosis from developing.
She is no stranger to back injuries, which she has endured for 30-40 years due to degenerative spinal stenosis as well as sciatic nerve pain in her lower back.
“I’m very pleased the doctor could treat the new fracture to keep my pain at a tolerable level,” she said. “I still can’t lift my grandkids or great-grandkids, but I can enjoy other activities.”
She enjoys walking on a treadmill when she can, as well as oil painting, playing the piano and reading, as her newly diagnosed macular degeneration condition allows her to.