Effectiveness of percutaneous vertebroplasty in patients with multiple myeloma having vertebral pain.

PurposeWe aimed to assess the effectiveness, benefits, and reliability of percutaneous vertebroplasty (PV) in patients with vertebral involvement of multiple myeloma.MethodsPV procedures performed on 166 vertebrae of 41 patients with multiple myeloma were retrospectively evaluated. Most of our patients were using level 3 (moderate to severe pain) analgesics. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed before the procedure to assess vertebral involvement of multiple myeloma. The following variables were evaluated: affected vertebral levels, loss of vertebral body height, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) cement amount applied to the vertebral body during PV, PMMA cement leakages, and pain before and after PV as assessed by a visual analogue scale (VAS).ResultsMedian VAS scores of patients decreased from 9 one day before PV, to 6 one day after the procedure, to 3 one week after the procedure, and eventually to 1 three months after the procedure (P ConclusionBeing a minimally invasive and easily performed procedure with low complication rates, PV should be preferred for serious back pain of multiple myeloma patients.