Management of Painful Neoplastic Spinal Lesions Using Percutaneous Acrylic Cement Injection

Abstract

Debilitating backache due to different types of neoplastic spinal lesions is a common cause of morbidity in different age groups. Percutaneous vertebroplasty (PV) gives substantial pain relief and stabilizes the weak vertebrae. The objective of our study was to assess the therapeutic benefit of PV in alleviating backache and improving functional status in patients with painful neoplastic conditions of vertebrae. A retrospective hospital-based (tertiary teaching hospital) study of 13 patients was undertaken from January 2001 to January 2005. Nineteen vertebroplasties were done in seven male and six female patients. The Wilcoxon Signed Rank test was used to evaluate the statistical significance of differences between the preoperative and postoperative levels of pain, mobility and analgesic usage. Most patients had pain relief within 48–72 hours. No patient had any added deficit related to the procedure. At one to 48 months follow-up the patients had a statistically significant improvement in their clinical condition (p<0.001). PV is effective in relieving debilitating backache and can improve the functional status of patients with painful vertebrae harboring various neoplastic lesions.