Treatment
Vertebral augmentation — vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty — stabilises a painful fractured vertebra from the inside: medical-grade cement placed through a needle, hardening within minutes into an internal cast. No incision. Often about an hour. If an osteoporotic fracture has taken your mobility — or a parent's — the questions come fast and worried. Here are the straight answers.
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A compression fracture leaves a vertebra cracked and slowly crumpling — every movement grinding the broken bone. Vertebral augmentation ends that from within: under continuous X-ray guidance, a needle passes through numbed skin into the fractured vertebra, and medical-grade bone cement is placed in small, controlled amounts, hardening within minutes into an internal cast that holds the bone still. Kyphoplasty adds a small balloon first, creating a cavity and gently reclaiming some lost height. There is no incision to heal — just a plaster over a needle mark — which is exactly why this procedure suits the patients who need it most: the older and frailer the patient, the more the gentleness matters.
The opening required, to scale
Figures reflect ranges reported in published series for suitable patients — our specialist will discuss the numbers that apply to your fracture, openly, before anything is decided.
Whether the fracture is yours or a parent's, one worry is probably shouting loudest. Tap it — the straight answer is one scroll away.
The gentlest answer on this site: there is no operation here in the sense you're dreading. No incision, no muscles cut, no wound to recover from — a needle passes through skin numbed with local anaesthetic, usually with sedation so the hour passes calmly, and the entry point is covered with a plaster. Positioning on the table is done slowly and carefully around your fracture.
And then the equation flips: the grinding fracture pain that made every movement frightening is exactly what the cement switches off. Many patients describe the trade in disbelief — an hour of a procedure for relief that, in published series, often arrives within days.
A fair reaction — so here's exactly what happens. The cement is a medical-grade material used in bone surgery for decades; it is placed in small, controlled volumes under continuous X-ray vision, so the surgeon watches every moment of its journey, and it hardens within minutes into an inert, permanent internal cast. In kyphoplasty, the balloon first creates a contained cavity, letting the cement settle at gentle pressure.
The honest risk conversation: small cement leaks can occur and are usually symptomless; serious leak-related problems are rare in published series. Infection and bleeding risks are low for a needle procedure, and your overall health — heart, lungs, medications — is assessed individually beforehand. Every number is discussed openly, with you and your family, before anything is decided.
Fast — and for this procedure, fast is the point. Most patients are up and walking the same day, and meaningful pain relief often arrives within days. For an older person, every day in bed costs strength that takes weeks to rebuild — which is why stopping the pain quickly isn't a luxury; it's how the deconditioning spiral gets broken. Wherever you are in the journey:
The considering stage starts with confirming the fracture is the true source. A consultation reviews your X-rays and MRI — fracture freshness matters for this procedure — alongside how the pain is limiting you, and lays out augmentation versus continued conservative care with honest numbers. Family members are welcome in the room.
Preparation is lighter than you'd expect. A health review covers your heart, lungs and medications; instructions arrive well before the day; and since it's typically a day procedure under sedation, the practical needs are simple — an escort home and a quiet first evening. Questions before then? Message us.
Recovery is about reclaiming movement — gently and daily. Walk from day one, build activity steadily, and let the bone-health plan — the other half of your treatment — get underway. Fever, new numbness or weakness, or pain that changes character? Contact us promptly.
The wisest worry on the page — because the fracture was never really the disease. The bone thinning that let a vertebra crack under a cough or a car ride is still there after the cement sets, and yes: one vertebral fracture raises the risk of the next severalfold. Which is why the procedure here never travels alone. Every augmentation comes packaged with a proper bone-health assessment and treatment of the underlying osteoporosis, plus strength and balance work so falls stop happening — fix the break, then fix the bone. The cement stabilises this vertebra permanently; protecting the rest of them is the campaign that starts the same week.
Often, yes — and honesty first: most compression fractures heal in six to twelve weeks with paced mobilisation, bracing where helpful, and proper pain control. Augmentation isn't for every fracture; it's for the ones where waiting is losing. Check your situation:
Your situation fits the profile augmentation was designed for. The next step is a consultation: confirming the fracture is fresh enough to benefit, that it truly is the pain source, and weighing the procedure against continuing conservative care — openly, with you and your family.
Good news — this fracture may well heal on its own. Most do, with the right support — and an assessment sets that up properly: confirming the diagnosis, pacing the mobilisation, and starting the bone-health work that stops the next fracture. The procedure stays exactly where it belongs: in reserve.
And remember: a consultation is not a commitment to a procedure — it's how you find out what this fracture actually needs.
Tap the one that sounds like you — and get the straight answer:
Vertebral augmentation is the umbrella term for stabilising a painful fractured vertebra from the inside. In vertebroplasty, medical-grade bone cement is placed into the broken vertebra through a needle, under continuous image guidance, where it hardens within minutes — an internal cast. Kyphoplasty adds one step: a small balloon first creates a cavity and gently restores some of the vertebra's lost height before the cement goes in. Both are needle procedures — no incision, typically about an hour.
The honest answer: small cement leaks can occur, and in the large majority of cases they cause no symptoms at all — serious leak-related problems are rare in published series. The safeguards are the point: the cement is placed in small, controlled volumes under continuous X-ray vision, and the kyphoplasty balloon technique creates a contained cavity that lets cement sit at lower pressure. Once set — within minutes — the cement is inert and permanent.
This is the procedure's signature: many patients report meaningful relief within days — some within the first day — in published series. Most are up and walking the same day. For an older person losing strength with every day spent in bed, that speed isn't a luxury; it's often the whole point of intervening.
Frailty is usually an argument for this procedure, not against it. There is no incision — just a needle through numbed skin — and it is commonly done under local anaesthesia with sedation rather than a general anaesthetic, in about an hour. It is routinely performed for patients in their eighties and beyond; your overall health is assessed individually, honestly, before anything is scheduled.
No — and it's important to be straight about this. The cement stabilises this fracture; it does nothing for the bone thinning that caused it, and one vertebral fracture raises the risk of the next. That's why the procedure here always comes packaged with a proper bone-health assessment and treatment of the underlying osteoporosis — fix the break, then fix the bone.
Related: Spinal compression fracture · Lower back pain · Minimally invasive spine surgery
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