Improvement in respiratory function by percutaneous vertebroplasty.

BACKGROUND

Percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) improves back pain and corrects spinal misalignment to some extent, and thus may improve respiratory function.

PURPOSE: To retrospectively investigate changes in respiratory function after PVP.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

41 patients (mean age 72.0 years, range 59-86 years; 39 women, two men) who had undergone PVP for vertebral compression fractures (37 thoracic vertebral bodies [Th6-Th12] and 50 lumbar vertebral bodies [L1-L5]) caused by osteoporosis visited our hospital for follow-up consultation between January and June 2005. At this follow-up consultation, respiratory function testing, including percent forced vital capacity (FVC%) and percent forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)%), was performed. We retrospectively compared these values with those taken before PVP using a Wilcoxon signed-rank test.

RESULTS

FVC% was 85.2+/-30.3% before PVP and 91.5+/-16.8% at follow-up (mean 10 months after PVP), which represented a significant difference (P<0.003). No significant difference in FEV(1)% was detected. Regarding the number of treatment levels, that is, single vertebroplasty versus multiple vertebroplasty, no significant difference in improvement of FVC% was confirmed (P=0.1). FVC% was abnormally low (<or=79%) before PVP in 16 patients and improved to within normal range postoperatively in six of these patients (38%).

CONCLUSION

PVP improves preoperatively decreased lung function, but this improvement takes time.