Compression fractures

What are compression fractures?


What causes compression fractures?


Osteoporosis is a common cause


Typical diagnosis


  • X-ray: an X-ray of the spine will usually show where the vertebra is broken
  • Bone scan: a bone scan might be ordered to help determine the age of a fracture. If the fracture is old and there appears to be other fractures that have healed, this may indicate osteoporosis.
  • Neurological exam: a neurological exam will also be given, which includes testing the nerves by checking your reflexes, muscle strength, and sensory perception. Abnormalities in the neurological examination can point to nerve damage. If there is damage to the spinal nerves, your body movement and neurological responses will be affected. Neurological problems are rare, except in younger patients who have experienced a violent injury, such as a car crash.


In very severe compression fractures, parts of the back of the vertebral body may actually protrude into the spinal canal, and put pressure on the spinal cord. Fortunately this is not a common occurrence.



Treatments (cont.)

  • Vertebroplasty: Vertebroplasty is a minimally-invasive procedure in which special cement is injected into the broken vertebral body. This treatment is mainly used to ease pain and improve the strength of the vertebral body.
  • Kyphoplasty: Kyphoplasty is a minimally-invasive procedure in which a tube with a deflated balloon is slipped inside the broken bone. Once inside, the balloon is inflated to help restore the height of the broken vertebra. Then bone cement is injected into the space formed by the balloon to hold the vertebra at its corrected height.
  • Surgical treatment: Spinal surgery is a serious undertaking and is only considered to fix vertebral compression fractures if there is evidence of sudden and serious instability of the spine. For instance, if the fracture leads to a loss of 50 percent of the vertebral body height, surgery might be necessary to prevent the bone from collapsing onto the spinal nerves and causing more serious damage.

Procedures / Surgeries

Various procedures and surgeries are also available for the treatment of Compression fractures.



Get relief from Compression fractures
