How Kyphoplasty Is Performed: The Balloon, the Bone Cement and the X-Ray Guidance

The fracture happened on a Tuesday, or so she thinks. There was no fall. She bent to lift a bag of potting soil, felt something give in the middle of her back, and by evening could not sit through dinner. Three weeks and one scan later, a doctor said the words compression fracture and, in the next breath, kyphoplasty. She nodded, then went home and typed the word into her phone.

If that is roughly where you are, this article is for you. Understanding how kyphoplasty is done tends to make the decision feel less like a leap. The procedure has three moving parts: a small balloon, a bone cement that sets in minutes, and continuous X-ray pictures that let the doctor see exactly where every tool sits.

We will walk through each of those parts, then be honest about the things the glossy explainers skip: what the pain is really like, what can go wrong, what the trials actually found, and who is better served by waiting.

How kyphoplasty is done, step by step

Picture the vertebra as a small block of bone stacked in a column of about 24 others. A compression fracture is when that block collapses, usually at the front, so the bone looks like a wedge on an X-ray. Kyphoplasty is a way of propping the wedge back up from the inside without opening the back surgically.

You lie face down on a padded table. The skin over the fracture is cleaned and numbed, and most people also receive sedation through a vein, or occasionally a general anesthetic, decided beforehand with the anesthesia team. The doctor, typically an interventional radiologist, a spine surgeon or a pain specialist with procedural training, then uses a live X-ray machine called a fluoroscope to line up a hollow needle with the fractured bone.

The needle enters through a skin puncture about the width of a pencil and travels through a small bony arch on the side of the vertebra, the pedicle, into the collapsed body of the bone. A deflated balloon slides through the needle. It is inflated slowly, lifting the crushed bone and forming a cavity. The balloon is withdrawn, and the cavity is filled with a thick bone cement that hardens quickly, often within about 10 minutes according to MedlinePlus. Many doctors treat the vertebra from both sides for a more even fill.

MedlinePlus puts the whole procedure at roughly one hour per fractured vertebra. Afterward you lie flat for a short period while the cement finishes setting, then you are helped to sit, stand and walk. Most people go home the same day or after one night, depending on how they feel and what their team prefers. The puncture sites are closed with a small dressing rather than stitches.

Why the vertebra collapsed in the first place

Kyphoplasty treats a symptom of a fragile skeleton, not the fragility itself, and that distinction shapes almost every decision that follows. The great majority of compression fractures treated this way happen in bone weakened by osteoporosis, a condition in which bone loses density and internal structure faster than the body rebuilds it.

The scale is easy to underestimate. The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases estimates that about one in two women and up to one in four men over 50 will break a bone because of osteoporosis. The spine is one of the three most common sites, alongside the hip and wrist, and spinal fractures are peculiar because so many go unnoticed. Mayo Clinic notes that a compression fracture can follow something as ordinary as a cough, a sneeze or lifting a grocery bag, and some people only learn of an old one when they lose height or develop a stooped posture.

Less often the cause is different: a tumor that has spread to the spine and eaten into the bone, a blood-related condition such as multiple myeloma, long-term steroid use that thins bone, or a genuinely high-energy injury such as a fall from height in a person with normal bone. Each of these changes the calculus. A fracture from cancer may still be treated with cement for pain, but the planning involves oncology. A traumatic burst fracture in strong bone, where fragments push toward the spinal cord, is usually a job for a different kind of surgery altogether.

Whatever the cause, most compression fractures heal on their own within a few weeks to a few months, and much of the medical judgment around kyphoplasty is about deciding whose pain is severe or prolonged enough to justify intervening before that natural process finishes.

The balloon: what it does and what it cannot do

The balloon is the part that separates kyphoplasty from its older sibling, vertebroplasty, and it is smaller than most people imagine. Deflated, it is a slim sleeve on the end of a catheter. Inflated with contrast dye, so it shows clearly on X-ray, it becomes a compact sausage of fluid inside the bone.

Its job is mechanical. Compressed, osteoporotic bone behaves a little like a crushed sponge. Gentle, controlled pressure from the balloon pushes the fragmented bone outward against the intact walls of the vertebra, compacting it and, when the fracture is recent enough to still be mobile, lifting the collapsed top plate back toward its original position. The doctor watches the height change on the screen and stops inflating when the bone stops moving, when the balloon reaches its pressure limit, or when it touches the outer cortex.

Two honest caveats follow. First, height restoration is variable. A fracture that is several months old has often begun to knit in its collapsed shape, and the balloon may barely move it. Second, the cavity is the real point. By creating an empty space, the balloon allows the cement to be injected under low pressure into a defined pocket rather than forced into a web of cracks. That is the theoretical reason kyphoplasty is thought to leak cement less often than vertebroplasty, though as we will see, the clinical evidence for that advantage is more modest than the theory.

What the balloon cannot do is straighten a spine that has curved over years of multiple fractures, reverse osteoporosis, or guarantee that the next vertebra up or down will hold. It fixes one block in the column. The rest of the column remains whatever it was the day before.

The bone cement: what it is and how it sets

The material most commonly used is polymethylmethacrylate, usually shortened to PMMA, an acrylic that has been used in orthopedic surgery to anchor hip and knee implants for decades. It arrives as two components, a powder and a liquid, that the team mixes on a side table while the balloon is doing its work.

Timing is everything. Freshly mixed, PMMA is runny. Over a few minutes it thickens to the consistency of toothpaste, and that is the window in which it is injected. Too thin and it can seep into the small veins that run through every vertebra; too thick and it will not flow into the cavity. The chemical reaction that hardens it also releases heat, and the cement reaches a firm, load-bearing state quickly. MedlinePlus describes the hardening as taking about 10 minutes. A radiopaque agent such as barium is mixed in so the cement glows white on X-ray and the doctor can watch every millimeter of the fill.

Why does cement relieve pain, when it does? Nobody is entirely certain, and it is worth saying so plainly. The leading explanations are mechanical stabilization of the fractured fragments, so they stop grinding with each breath and step, and possibly thermal or chemical effects on tiny nerve endings inside the bone. The cement does not dissolve or get replaced by new bone; it becomes a permanent internal splint.

Alternatives exist. Some centers use calcium-phosphate cements that are more bone-like and slowly remodel, and a few use expandable implants placed with or instead of cement. These are legitimate options in specific circumstances, but the bulk of the published evidence concerns PMMA, and any choice about material belongs to the treating team, who will weigh your bone quality, fracture type and their own experience.

X-ray guidance: why nobody does this blind

Fluoroscopy is the reason a needle can be steered into a bone the size of a matchbox without cutting a single muscle. The fluoroscope is a C-shaped arm that swings around the table, sending a low-dose X-ray beam through the body and producing a moving picture on a monitor above the doctor’s head.

Before anything touches the skin, the team lines up two views: one from the front, one from the side. The pedicle, the small bony bridge the needle must pass through, appears as an oval on the front view. The needle tip is advanced a few millimeters at a time, and the doctor toggles between views to confirm it is centered in that oval and angled toward the front of the vertebral body rather than toward the spinal canal behind it. Passing through the pedicle rather than beside it is what keeps the needle a safe distance from the spinal cord and the nerve roots exiting on either side.

The same screen shows the balloon inflating, the height changing, and later the white cement spreading through the cavity. This is the moment that demands the most attention. Cement that drifts toward the back wall of the vertebra, into a disc, or into a vein shows up immediately, and the injection is stopped or redirected. Real-time visibility is why cement leaks, although common on later scans, are usually caught before they cause symptoms.

Radiation exposure is real but modest for the patient, on the order of other fluoroscopy-guided spine procedures, and the greater cumulative concern is for staff who do these procedures daily. Some centers use CT guidance for unusual anatomy. Either way, the imaging is not an optional extra; it is the eyes of the procedure.

Who kyphoplasty is usually for, and who is usually asked to wait

The clearest guidance comes from bodies such as NICE in the United Kingdom, whose appraisal of these procedures reserved them for people with severe, ongoing pain from a recent, unhealed vertebral fracture confirmed on imaging, whose pain has not settled despite a proper trial of medical management. Every phrase in that sentence is doing work.

Severe means pain that keeps you in bed, prevents walking, or is escalating the need for strong painkillers with their own hazards in older people: constipation, falls, confusion. Recent and unhealed means the fracture is typically weeks to a few months old and still shows active changes on an MRI scan, which detects fluid and swelling inside the bone, or on a bone scan. Confirmed on imaging means the pain localizes to that specific vertebra, usually by pressing on the spine and correlating with the pictures. Despite medical management means you have already had a reasonable period of pain medicine, activity modification and sometimes bracing, generally a few weeks.

People are usually asked to wait, or steered elsewhere, when the fracture is healing and the pain is easing week by week; when the fracture is old and already knitted, because cement into stable bone rarely helps; when there is an active infection anywhere in the body, since cement can harbor bacteria; when there is a bleeding disorder that cannot be corrected; when bone fragments already press on the spinal cord or nerves, producing weakness or numbness; or when the vertebral collapse is so complete that there is no room for a balloon.

Pregnancy, known allergy to cement components or contrast dye, and some heart and lung conditions that make lying face down under sedation risky also enter the conversation. None of these is a rule you can apply to yourself. They are the questions your team is working through.

Kyphoplasty vs vertebroplasty vs waiting it out

People searching kyphoplasty vs vertebroplasty often assume the newer, balloon-based option is automatically better. The picture is more nuanced. Vertebroplasty injects cement directly into the fractured bone without creating a cavity first. It is faster and uses smaller needles, but the cement must be pushed into cracks under higher pressure, which is the theoretical basis for its slightly higher leak rate. Kyphoplasty adds the balloon step and the chance of some height restoration. Conservative care means letting the fracture heal with pain relief, gradual activity and bone-health treatment.

Feature	Kyphoplasty	Vertebroplasty	Conservative care
Balloon cavity	Yes	No	Not applicable
Height restoration	Possible, variable	Minimal	None; may lose more
Procedure time	About 1 hour per level (MedlinePlus)	Usually shorter	No procedure
Anesthesia	Local with sedation, or general	Local with sedation	None
Cement leak on imaging	Less common in theory	More common, mostly silent	Not applicable
Speed of pain relief in trials	Often faster than conservative care early on	Not clearly better than sham in Cochrane review	Gradual over weeks to months
Permanent implant	Yes	Yes	No

Two things stand out. The differences between the two cement procedures are smaller than marketing suggests, and the choice often comes down to the operator’s training and the shape of the fracture. And conservative care is not doing nothing. Most fractures heal, and many people never need either procedure. The question is whether you are among the minority whose pain is severe and stubborn enough that waiting carries its own harms.

Is kyphoplasty painful? What you actually feel

The honest answer is: far less than the fracture, and less than most people fear, with a predictable pattern of soreness afterward.

During the procedure, the skin and the tissue down to the bone are numbed with local anesthetic, and sedation given through a vein makes most people drowsy and relaxed. Some remember nothing. Others recall pressure, a tapping sensation as the needle is advanced through the pedicle, or a deep ache when the balloon inflates. That ache is short-lived and the team can deepen sedation if needed. A general anesthetic is used for some people, for instance when several levels are treated or when lying still would be difficult.

Afterward, the puncture sites feel bruised, roughly like a firm knock on the back. Johns Hopkins describes this soreness as typically lasting a few days and manageable with simple measures. Ice over the area for short periods often helps. Many people notice that the sharp, breath-catching fracture pain is markedly better within a day or two, sometimes within hours, though this is an observation from clinical practice and not something anyone can promise you in advance.

Pain that does not follow this pattern matters. Increasing back pain over the first week, new pain in a different part of the spine, or pain that shoots down a leg or around the chest wall are not typical and should be reported. We come back to these red flags in the final section.

Pain medicine after the procedure is a conversation with your team. Some people need a short course of something they were already taking for the fracture; many find they can step down faster than expected. Any change to what you take, and how quickly, is a decision for the prescribing clinician, not the internet.

What is the downside of kyphoplasty? Risks and side effects in plain language

Every procedure has a cost side, and kyphoplasty risks and side effects deserve to be laid out without either alarm or minimization.

Cement leakage is the most frequent finding. Small amounts of cement escaping into a disc, the soft tissue beside the vertebra, or a nearby vein show up on a meaningful share of follow-up scans. The large majority cause no symptoms and need no treatment. Rarely, cement tracks toward the spinal canal and presses on a nerve, which can produce pain, numbness or weakness and occasionally requires surgery. Rarer still, cement carried through veins reaches the lungs, an event called cement embolism, which is why the cement’s thickness and the live X-ray watch matter so much.

New fractures in neighboring vertebrae are the second big question. People who have had one osteoporotic fracture are at high risk of another regardless of treatment, and researchers still debate whether a stiff, cemented vertebra adds to that risk by shifting load onto its softer neighbors. The evidence is genuinely mixed. What is not in dispute is that untreated osteoporosis will keep producing fractures.

The remaining risks are those of any needle procedure near the spine: bleeding, infection at the skin or, uncommonly, in the bone; allergic reaction to contrast dye or anesthesia; nerve or spinal cord injury from the needle itself, which is rare with careful imaging; and the general risks of sedation in older adults with heart or lung disease. MedlinePlus and Johns Hopkins both list these as recognized but uncommon complications.

Then there is the quieter downside: the procedure may simply not help. Some people have persistent pain from other sources, arthritic joints, muscle strain from months of guarding, or fractures elsewhere. Kyphoplasty treats one vertebra. It does not treat a back.

What the evidence actually shows

This is where the top-ranking explainers tend to go quiet, so let us not.

The strongest evidence concerns vertebroplasty, the cement-only cousin. A Cochrane systematic review published in 2018 pooled trials comparing vertebroplasty with a sham procedure, in which the needle was placed and the cement mixed but not injected. It found high-certainty evidence that vertebroplasty offered no clinically important benefit over sham for pain, disability or quality of life in osteoporotic fractures. That finding unsettled the field and is the main reason guideline groups became more selective about who is offered these procedures.

Kyphoplasty has been studied less rigorously. The largest randomized trial compared it with non-surgical care rather than with a sham, and reported meaningfully better pain, function and quality of life at one month, with the gap narrowing by twelve months as the untreated group healed. A trial without a sham arm cannot separate the effect of the cement from the effect of undergoing a procedure, so the size of kyphoplasty’s true benefit remains uncertain. Subsequent trials have suggested that people with very recent fractures and severe pain may benefit more than those with older, milder ones, which is the logic behind the selection criteria described earlier.

Where does that leave a person in pain? In a position of informed uncertainty. Kyphoplasty is not a sham, and it is not a miracle. It is a reasonable option for a specific group: severe pain, recent unhealed fracture, failed conservative care, no contraindications. For people outside that group, the evidence does not support it, and a good team will say so. When a clinician is candid about the limits of the data, that candor is itself a mark of quality.

Kyphoplasty recovery time: what the first days and weeks usually look like

Recovery from kyphoplasty is short compared with open spine surgery, but it is not nothing, and the fracture itself still needs its own time to settle.

The first hours are spent lying flat, then sitting, then taking a supervised walk down the corridor. Johns Hopkins notes that people can usually walk within an hour of the procedure. Most go home the same day or after one night. You will need someone to drive you because of the sedation.

Over the first two to three days, expect puncture-site soreness and some fatigue. Walking is encouraged from day one; lying in bed is not. Keep the dressing dry for the period your team specifies, usually about a day, then a shower is fine while baths and swimming wait until the skin has sealed.

Across the first two weeks, gentle daily activity builds up: household tasks, short walks, light chores. Bending forward at the waist, twisting and lifting anything heavier than a few pounds are usually restricted. Johns Hopkins advises avoiding strenuous activity and heavy lifting for around six weeks, a range that reflects both the cemented bone and the healing of the surrounding tissues.

By four to six weeks, many people are back to their ordinary routine, and this is often when a referral to physical therapy makes the most sense: posture work, gentle back-extension strengthening, balance training to reduce fall risk, and coaching on how to lift and bend safely for the rest of your life.

Your timeline may differ. Age, other health conditions, the number of levels treated and how long you were immobile before the procedure all shift the pace. These are typical ranges from cited sources, not a schedule, and your team’s instructions override anything written here.

Do you wear a back brace after kyphoplasty? And the bone work that follows

Usually not. One of the practical appeals of kyphoplasty is that the cement provides internal support immediately, so the external brace that some people wear for an untreated compression fracture is generally unnecessary afterward. Some surgeons do prescribe a soft support for comfort during the first days, or a rigid brace when several levels were treated or the bone is exceptionally fragile. If you were already wearing one, ask specifically whether and when to stop; do not assume.

The more important follow-up is invisible. A cemented vertebra sits in a spine that is still losing mineral, and the single most predictive risk factor for a future osteoporotic fracture is having had one. This is where the real long-term work happens, and it is largely medical rather than procedural.

Expect your team to order a bone density scan, called a DXA, if you have not had one recently, and to review blood tests for vitamin D, calcium and other contributors to bone loss such as thyroid or parathyroid problems. Mayo Clinic and NIAMS both describe several classes of medicines that slow bone breakdown or stimulate new bone formation; bisphosphonates are the most widely used class, and other options exist for people who cannot take them or whose fracture risk is very high. Which, if any, is right for you, and for how long, is a decision for your prescribing clinician based on your scan, your kidney function, your other medicines and your preferences.

Alongside medicine come the unglamorous fundamentals: adequate calcium and vitamin D from food or, where needed, supplements chosen with your team; weight-bearing and resistance exercise adapted to your ability; stopping smoking; limiting alcohol; and a hard look at fall hazards at home, from loose rugs to poor lighting. The cement fixed one bone. This is how you protect the other 23.

What people often get wrong about kyphoplasty

Myth: it fixes osteoporosis. It does not touch the underlying disease. Treating the fracture without treating the bone loss is like patching one tire on a car with four worn ones.

Myth: it is major surgery. There is no incision beyond a small puncture, no muscle is cut, and most people walk out the same day. Calling it minor is also misleading, though. A needle is being placed millimeters from the spinal cord, and sedation carries real risk in frail older adults.

Myth: everyone with a compression fracture should have it. Most compression fractures heal on their own, and the Cochrane review of vertebroplasty found no meaningful benefit over sham for the broad osteoporotic population. Selection is the whole game.

Myth: the sooner the better, always. Timing is a balance. Very early treatment means intervening on fractures that might have settled on their own; very late treatment means cement into bone that has already healed in its collapsed shape. The window is usually a matter of weeks after pain begins, defined by imaging rather than the calendar.

Myth: the balloon restores full height. Sometimes it recovers some; often it recovers little. Pain relief, not height, is the primary goal, and a spine curved by several old fractures will not straighten.

Myth: cement makes the next vertebra break. The truth is uncertain. Neighboring fractures are common after any osteoporotic fracture, and studies disagree on whether cement adds to that risk.

Myth: if the pain persists, the procedure failed. Back pain after a fracture has many sources: muscles that have guarded for months, arthritic facet joints, other fractures, or the simple reality that recovering strength takes time. A persistent ache warrants evaluation, not a verdict.

Questions to ask your care team before kyphoplasty

Take this list into the consultation. Good teams welcome these questions, and the answers will tell you a great deal about whether the procedure is being offered thoughtfully.

• How do you know this specific vertebra is the source of my pain, and what did the MRI or bone scan show about whether the fracture is still unhealed?
• How long have I had this fracture, and how does that affect what the balloon is likely to achieve?
• What has my conservative care involved so far, and is there a reason to wait another few weeks before deciding?
• Are you recommending kyphoplasty or vertebroplasty, and why this one for my fracture?
• Will I have local anesthetic with sedation, or a general anesthetic, and who will be managing that?
• How many levels will be treated, and will you approach from one side or both?
• What is your plan if cement begins to leak during the procedure?
• What are the specific risks in my case, given my heart, lungs, kidneys and other medicines, including any blood thinners?
• Will I go home the same day? Who do I call overnight if something worries me?
• Do I need a brace afterward, and if I am wearing one now, when do I stop?
• What activity restrictions apply, for how long, and when should physical therapy begin?
• What is the plan for my osteoporosis: bone density scan, blood tests, medicine review, fall prevention?
• Which of my current medicines should I pause or continue before the procedure?
• What would make you advise against this procedure for me?

Write down the answers, or bring someone who will. Sedation blurs memory, and the details discussed beforehand are the ones you will want to recall afterward. If any answer feels rushed or dismissive, it is reasonable to ask for a second opinion. That is not disloyalty; it is how careful medicine works.

When to call your doctor after kyphoplasty

Most people recover without incident, and the ordinary course is soreness at the puncture site that fades over a few days. A short list of signs, however, should prompt a same-day call to your care team or, where noted, emergency services.

Seek emergency care immediately if you develop sudden shortness of breath, chest pain or coughing up blood, which could indicate cement or a blood clot reaching the lungs; new weakness in your legs, difficulty walking, or loss of control of bladder or bowels, which can signal pressure on the spinal cord or nerves; or severe, rapidly escalating back pain with fever.

Call your doctor the same day if you notice a fever or chills in the days after the procedure; redness, warmth, swelling or discharge at the puncture site; new numbness, tingling or shooting pain into a leg, or a band of pain around the chest or abdomen that was not there before; back pain that is clearly worse than before the procedure rather than better, or new pain at a different level of the spine, which may indicate a fresh fracture; unexpected bleeding or a spreading bruise at the site; or a rash, itching or facial swelling that could suggest a reaction to the contrast dye or cement.

Beyond the acute period, contact your team if pain that had eased returns weeks later, if you notice further loss of height or a change in posture, or if you have a fall of any kind. Each of these is a reason to be reassessed, not a reason to assume the worst. The procedure is one step in a longer plan, and your treating team, not this article, holds the decisions about what comes next.

Frequently asked questions

How painful is kyphoplasty surgery?

Kyphoplasty is generally far less painful than the fracture it treats. The skin and tissue are numbed and most people receive sedation, so they feel pressure or a brief deep ache at most. Afterward, the puncture sites feel bruised for a few days. Many people notice the sharp fracture pain easing within a day or two, though this varies and cannot be promised.

What is the downside of kyphoplasty?

The main downsides are cement leakage, which is common on scans but usually harmless, uncertainty about whether it raises the risk of fractures in neighboring vertebrae, and the possibility that it simply does not relieve the pain. Rare but serious complications include infection, nerve injury and cement reaching the lungs. It also does not treat the underlying osteoporosis.

How long does it take to recover from kyphoplasty back surgery?

Most people walk within an hour, go home the same day or next morning, and resume light daily activity within a few days. Johns Hopkins advises avoiding heavy lifting and strenuous activity for around six weeks. Kyphoplasty recovery time varies with age, the number of levels treated and how long you were immobile beforehand, so follow your own team’s timeline.

Do you wear a back brace after kyphoplasty?

Usually not. The cement stabilizes the vertebra from the inside, so an external brace is generally unnecessary. Some surgeons prescribe a soft support for comfort in the first days, or a rigid brace if several levels were treated or the bone is very fragile. If you were already wearing a brace, ask your team exactly when to stop.

What is the difference between kyphoplasty vs vertebroplasty?

Both inject bone cement into a fractured vertebra under X-ray guidance. Kyphoplasty first inflates a balloon to create a cavity and may restore some height, allowing lower-pressure cement injection. Vertebroplasty injects cement directly into the cracks. The theoretical advantage of kyphoplasty is fewer cement leaks, but clinical outcomes are broadly similar, and the choice often depends on fracture shape and operator training.

Does kyphoplasty actually work?

The evidence is mixed. A 2018 Cochrane review found vertebroplasty no better than a sham procedure for osteoporotic fractures. The largest kyphoplasty trial showed faster pain relief than non-surgical care at one month, with the difference narrowing by a year, but it lacked a sham comparison. Benefit appears most likely in people with recent, severe, unhealed fractures who have not improved with conservative care.

How long does the kyphoplasty procedure take?

MedlinePlus puts the procedure at about one hour per fractured vertebra. Treating two or more levels takes correspondingly longer. Add time before for preparation and anesthesia, and time afterward for lying flat while the cement finishes setting and for a supervised first walk. Most people spend several hours at the facility even when they go home the same day.

What are the kyphoplasty risks and side effects I should watch for at home?

Watch for fever or chills, redness or discharge at the puncture site, new numbness or weakness in the legs, loss of bladder or bowel control, shooting pain into a leg, and back pain that worsens rather than improves. Sudden shortness of breath or chest pain needs emergency care. Mild soreness at the site for a few days is expected and not a warning sign.

Is kyphoplasty considered major surgery?

No. It is classed as a minimally invasive, percutaneous procedure, meaning it is done through a small skin puncture rather than an incision, without cutting muscle. Most people go home the same day. That said, it involves placing a needle close to the spinal cord under sedation, so it is not trivial, especially for frail older adults with heart or lung conditions.

Can a compression fracture heal without kyphoplasty?

Yes, most do. The majority of osteoporotic compression fractures heal on their own over several weeks to a few months with pain relief, gradual activity and sometimes a brace. Kyphoplasty is generally considered only when pain is severe and persistent despite that approach and imaging confirms the fracture is still unhealed. Treating the underlying osteoporosis matters in every case.

References

• MedlinePlus: Kyphoplasty
• NIH NIAMS: Osteoporosis

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.