Kyphoplasty: Your Complete Guide to Optimal Healing and a Full Recovery

Bone is a living tissue, continually breaking down cells and replacing them with new ones. Osteoporosis is a bone-thinning disease that happens when cell breakdown outpaces cell creation. As a result, the bones become brittle and can break easily, even from a strong sneeze or a minor bump.

When the vertebrae in the spine are affected, they can collapse, causing what’s known as a compression fracture. Not only does this cause a stooped posture and loss of height, but it’s an excruciating condition that can interfere with your ability to perform daily activities.

At Interventional Pain Center, our anesthesiologist and interventional pain medicine physician, Dr. James Stephens, understands the debilitating effects of osteoporosis and compression fractures, which is why he offers kyphoplasty, a minimally invasive surgical procedure that restores the vertebrae to their normal height and density. Here’s what you need to know about healing from kyphoplasty.

More about osteoporosis

When you view healthy bone tissue under a microscope in cross-section, it looks a lot like a honeycomb. With osteoporosis, which means “porous bone,” the holes are much larger than in healthy tissue, and the whole tissue may have an abnormal structure. This loss of bone mass and resulting lower density weakens the bone and allows it to fracture more easily.

Some 54 million Americans have low bone mass, most of them postmenopausal women and men over 50. That’s because estrogen and testosterone are, in part, responsible for maintaining proper bone density. As levels drop when you age, the bone loses mass as a result.

Osteoporosis is a “silent” disease because it produces no symptoms, and for many people, the first sign they have it is when they break a bone.

If you’re at risk for osteoporosis (e.g., small, white, postmenopausal women of European descent), you should get a DXA (or DEXA) scan, which directly measures the density of bone in the hip, femur, and spine. If your results indicate osteoporosis (or its predecessor, osteopenia), there are medications you can take to restore bone mass.

What is kyphoplasty?

As we’ve mentioned, a compression fracture is when one or more vertebrae in the spine collapse. This can cause significant pain and loss of mobility.

Kyphoplasty is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that restores the damaged vertebra(e). Its goals are to restore vertebral height, stabilize the vertebra(e), and eliminate the associated pain. It takes approximately 1 to 2 hours per vertebral level to complete.

The kyphoplasty procedure

Kyphoplasty is typically performed as an outpatient procedure, allowing you to go home the same day. The procedure unfolds as follows:

You lie face down on a padded table, and we sterilize the area on your back where Dr. Stephens will insert the needle. We give you local anesthesia and light sedation so you remain comfortable the entire time.

Dr. Stephens makes a small incision in the back to insert a small tube. Using fluoroscopy for guidance, he pushes the tube through the pedicle of the involved vertebra and into the area that’s fractured.

Next, he inserts a balloon through the tube and into the vertebra, then inflates it. As it expands, it creates a cavity inside the vertebra and returns the vertebral body to its natural height.

Once the cavity forms, the doctor removes the balloon. Finally, he fills the cavity with a cement-like material known as polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). Once injected, the PMMA quickly hardens, stabilizing the bone.

We observe you for an hour or two to ensure you don’t have any complications, after which you’re free to leave.

Kyphoplasty recovery and results

Some patients feel immediate relief as soon as the procedure is finished and the anesthetic wears off. Others see a reduction in pain within the following two days.

Dr. Stephens gives you complete aftercare instructions, but we generally advise that you get plenty of rest, take any prescribed medications as directed, and gradually resume your normal activities. We also recommend that you don’t perform any strenuous activity, such as lifting, until the doctor clears you to do so.

You can begin driving again anywhere from a few days to a few weeks after the procedure. It depends on how you respond to the procedure, if you’re still taking pain medications, and what your overall health status is.

You can expect follow-up appointments with the doctor to ensure you’re healing well and that there are no complications.

Some people may also need to undergo physical therapy or other pain management treatments in addition to managing the osteoporosis, so you don’t have any new compression fractures.

If you want to learn more about kyphoplasty or if you need treatment for osteoporosis, Interventional Pain Center can help. Call the office at 405-759-8407 to schedule an evaluation with Dr. Stephens, or use our online booking tool to schedule an appointment today.