'Balloon' to cure a crumbling back

by ROGER DOBSON, Daily Mail

Balloons are being used in a new treatment for painful bone problems caused by osteoporosis.

In a revolutionary operation, surgeons are injecting balloons between compressed bones, inflating them, then pumping in a special repairing cement.

Not only does the 45-minute technique relieve the severe pain, it can also prevent the height loss that is common with this disease.

One in three women and one in 12 men aged over 50 suffer from osteoporosis, which is characterised by low bone mass and the deterioration of bone tissue, leading to increased skeletal fragility.

This can result in soft bone breaks or compression fractures, especially in the spine, hip and wrist. The pain from the small fractures in the back can be so severe that patients can be bedridden for several weeks.

In some cases, where the affected vertebra collapses, posture can be affected, leaving the sufferer hunched forwards.

Someone with multiple compression fractures might end up with a rounded back, and this posture can lead to difficulty with breathing and digestion, increasing pain and a lack of mobility.

The usual treatment for compression fractures is medication for the pain. Immobilising the spine with a brace can also help.

The new technique, kyphoplasty, uses a different approach to ease the pain and solve the problems caused by the fracture.

In the procedure, which can be carried out under local or general anaesthetic, the surgeon makes two half-inch incisions on each side of the collapsed vertebra.

He then creates narrow pathways into the fractured bone and inserts two KyphX balloons.

They are then slowly inflated, using a special agent that can be seen under X-ray, lifting the fractured portion of the vertebra to a more normal height.

The surgeon's goal is to restore the fractured bone to its original shape.

As soon as the bones are restored to the normal position, the balloons are deflated and removed.

The cavity left by the balloons is then slowly filled with a thickened cement, injected to strengthen the bone.

After surgery, patients are able to get up and walk immediately.

Eight hospitals in the UK have started to use the technique, and more are expected to follow.

Eventually, the technique could become the standard treatment for patients with osteoporosis-related fractures in their spine.

One patient who has benefited from kyphoplasty is Marion Luscombe, 60, from Rochester, Kent, who had been bedridden for four months before the operation two weeks ago.

"It's thought that I caused the fracture just by rolling over in bed," she says. "In all, I was found to have three fractures, but two might have been there for some time.

"The third was in the lower back in a load-bearing area, which was why it was so painful and disabling.

"The day after the operation, they had me up and walking. It's nothing short of a miracle."

For more information visit www.kyphon.com