What is Vertebral Fractures?

What is Vertebral Fractures?

Vertebral fractures are high-energy traumas, and patients often encounter other injuries. For this reason, patients should be thoroughly investigated. We follow up the minor fractures, which do not lead to an impairment of the vertebral column’s alignment, using a corset. If you consider that instability, in other words, abnormal movement with the patient standing, is present, or when a partial or complete paralysis has occurred or might occur, surgical stabilization should be performed. It is necessary to decide on the surgical treatment type considering the patient’s condition and neurological condition and the fracture’s location and shape. Sometimes applying only the posterior screws is sufficient, whereas in other times, adding an anterior intervention procedure, and so a combined surgical approach might be required for treatment. 

The Treatment?

I think that another important topic, osteoporotic vertebral fractures, should be mentioned in the section on vertebral fractures. Those are the osteoporosis-related vertebral fractures occurring in elderly patients. In these patients, the vertebral body is weak because of osteoporosis. For this reason, vertebral fractures due to simple traumas can occur. We plan the treatment according to the fracture’s location and shape. In simple compression-type fractures, we perform the operations named vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty. The procedural steps in these operations consist of instilling bone cement via special cannulae into the fractured vertebra with radiological visualization under local anesthesia. Surgery should be planned individually and on a patient basis; for this reason, you may consult which type of surgery is required.