Health-related Quality of Life After Vertebral Augmentation for Osteoporotic Vertebral Compression Fractures.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCFs) varies significantly. This review summarizes the mechanisms of HRQOL impairment and evaluates the clinical evidence for vertebral augmentation (VA) procedures, specifically percutaneous vertebroplasty (PV), balloon kyphoplasty (BKP), and third-generation percutaneous vertebral augmentation systems (TVA). Additionally, we identify key factors influencing postoperative HRQOL recovery. RECENT FINDINGS: OVCFs severely impair physical function and psychosocial well-being, increasing mortality risk by approximately 22%. While VA effectively alleviates pain and restores vertebral height, current evidence is largely limited to paired comparisons, and 8% to 40% of patients report persistent or recurrent postoperative pain. Crucially, few studies systematically compare HRQOL across the three primary VA techniques. Furthermore, significant methodological heterogeneity in surgical protocols and assessment tools continues to hinder the comparability of long-term functional outcomes. This review comprehensively examines the disparities in HRQOL recovery following VA for OVCFs and identifies critical research gaps. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the mechanisms underlying these variations, enabling the development of targeted clinical interventions.