Post-Traumatic Kyphosis

 Overview  |  Problems and Challenges  |  Conservative Treatment  |  Surgical Correction

  If you have healthy bone, it takes a considerable amount of force to break your back. The most common causes of spinal fracture are falls from a height and motor vehicle accidents. When vertebra are injured and fracture, collapse is often the result. In cases where the collapse is significant, abnormal stresses arise in the adjacent facet joints and disks, often causing pain. Pain can also be caused by muscle fatigue from trying to compensate for the stooping posture and stand straight. Premature arthritic changes in the involved and adjacent joints can also occur.

  Mild fractures in the upper, middle, and lower back can be tolerated fairly well if the hips are not arthritic and the rest of the spine is healthy and flexible. The only treatment required is symptomatic relief with analgesics and a daily exercise program to keep the spine core muscles strong. Occasional brace wear can also be helpful for some. Most people never need anything more than this.

  If the fractured vertebra collapses to the point of causing > 20 – 30 degrees of kyphosis, pain will likely result. In such severe cases, the decision to proceed with surgical correction is made on an individual basis based on clinical and radiographic factors. Typically, surgery is not urgent unless there is progression of the deformity, neurologic compromise, and pain unresponsive to conservative care.

Osteoporosis and Spine Fractures

  Osteoporosis is a skeletal disorder in which bones become fragile and are more likely to break. If not prevented or treated, osteoporosis can progress painlessly until a bone breaks. These broken bones, called fractures, are most likely to occur in the hip, spine or wrist. Possible causes include hormonal imbalances, pregnancy, metabolic diseases, cancer, or in otherwise healthy people over age 60 to 65.

   Twenty-eight million Americans are at risk for developing osteoporosis. Every year, there are 1.5 million new fractures in people who have soft bone caused by osteoporosis. Of these, 700,000 people annually sustain spine fractures, 300,000 hip fractures, 250,000 wrist fractures and 250,000 fractures of other bones, all as a result of osteoporosis. With 700,000 spine fractures a year, this translates to one compression fracture every 45 seconds. After a patient sustains their first compression fracture, the risk of an additional fracture goes up more than five fold.

 Overview  |  Problems and Challenges  |  Conservative Treatment  |  Surgical Correction