TY - JOUR T1 - Balloon Kyphoplasty Was Effective and Safe for Vertebral Compression Fractures Compared with Nonsurgical Care Y1 - 2009/11/01 N1 - 10.2106/JBJS.9111.ebo890 JO - The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery SP - 2747 EP - 2747 VL - 91 IS - 11 N2 - Patients: 300 patients who were =21 years of age (mean age, 73 y; 77% women) had 1 to 3 vertebral fractures from T5 through L5, with =1 fracture showing edema on magnetic resonance imaging and =1 showing a 15% loss of height, and a back pain score =4 on a scale of 0 to 10. Patients with up to 3 contiguous or noncontiguous fractures at any level were included if the additional fractures also had magnetic resonance imaging signal changes, progressive height loss, or pseudarthrosis. Exclusion criteria were chronic fracture, pedicle fracture, previous vertebroplasty, neurological deficit, radicular pain, spinal cord compression, canal narrowing, use of anticoagulants, contraindications to kyphoplasty or magnetic resonance imaging, dementia, inability to walk before the fracture, or fractures resulting from primary bone tumors, osteoblastic metastases, or high-energy trauma. Follow-up was 89% at 1 month, 84% at 3 months, 82% at 6 months, and <80% at 12 months. SN - 0021-9355 M3 - doi: 10.2106/JBJS.9111.ebo890 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.2106/JBJS.9111.ebo890 ER -