Clinical efficacy of ultrasound-guided ultra-micro needle knife combined with PVP in elderly patients with OVCF: a retrospective study.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the clinical efficacy of ultrasound-guided super micro needle knife combined with percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) versus PVP alone for senile osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCF).

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective analysis of 104 elderly OVCF patients. The study group received the combined treatment, while the control group received PVP only. Outcomes including clinical results, imaging findings, pain scores, and complications were compared.

RESULTS

The results showed that compared with the simple PVP group, the combined treatment group had significantly shorter postoperative ambulation time and hospitalization stay, a lower incidence of short-term complications within 3 months, and a higher clinical success rate at 6 months based on the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) criteria (all P < 0.05). The combined treatment group demonstrated significantly greater improvement in imaging indices, including anterior vertebral height ratio, local kyphosis angle, and vertebral wedge angle, at both 3 and 6 months postoperatively (all P < 0.05). Furthermore, the combined treatment group exhibited significantly lower visual analog scale (VAS) scores at all postoperative time points (3 days, 7 days, 1, 3, and 6 months), as well as lower Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Quality of Life Questionnaire of the European Foundation for Osteoporosis (Qualeffo-41) scores at 3 and 6 months (all P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of re-fracture between the two groups within 12 months postoperatively (P = 0.320).

CONCLUSION

Ultrasound-guided super micro needle knife combined with PVP can significantly relieve pain, improve thoracolumbar function and spinal alignment, enhance the quality of life, and promote early recovery in elderly OVCF patients.