With an advantage of short operation time and controlled cement viscosity, radiofrequency (RF) kyphoplasty emerges as an effective and safe approach for vertebral compression fractures (VCFs) treatment. A retrospective study published in the Asian Spine Journal manifests these findings. Balloon kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty are also the available methods to treat osteoporotic VCFs, but the RF kyphoplasty comes with the feature of controlled cement viscosity.

The analysis involved a total of 41 consecutive participants; 38 with lumbar and 23 with thoracic VCFs who went through RF kyphoplasty. The age of the patients was ranged from 51 to 89 years. Radiographic and clinical assessments were done using X-ray, and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) & Visual Analog Scale (VAS) respectively during follow-up, at six weeks, six months, and twelve months.

The mean VAS scores were reduced to 3.3 postoperatively from 8.7 preoperatively. At the follow-up end, it was further reduced to 1.22. The mean ODI scores were reduced to 9.6 postoperatively from 85.9 preoperatively and improved to 18.4 at 1-year follow-up. A significant reduction was also observed in the mean local kyphotic angle from 9.04° preoperatively to 6.16° postoperatively and at the end of follow-up. However, a significant increase of 3.3 mm was determined in mean vertebral body height after the treatment. Five out of sixty-one levels of fractures exhibited 8% rate of cement leakage. All these findings make RF kyphoplasty a safe and effective treatment for VCFs.