Percutaneous vertebroplasty is safe and effective for vertebral compression fractures in osteoporosis, according to findings from a large prospective study.

Italian researchers followed up 884 patients with osteoporosis who underwent percutaneous vertebroplasty for back pain due to vertebral collapse. The findings were presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 33rd Annual Scientific Meeting in Washington, DC.

The procedure was performed on 3954 vertebrae in all, from T4 to L5, over 1022 sessions. An average of 2.5mL of polymethylmethacrylate was injected into each vertebra.

Over a follow-up period of five years, minimal asymptomatic polymethylmethacrylate lung embolism was reported in 12 patients, and nerve root irritation in six.

A total of 845 patients - 95.6 per cent - reported an improvement in their back pain, and the mean patient score on the Oswestry Disability Questionnaire fell significantly from 69.3 per cent before the procedure to 18.8 per cent one month after.

The researchers reported 106 new fractures over follow-up, 73 in the adjacent vertebra to that previously treated. They said that the study found a similar fracture rate in contiguous vertebrae to that reported by the literature in patients who did not undergo the procedure.

They described the procedure as "safe and effective", and noted that it was completed in all patients "without major complications and with a good clinical outcome."

Dr Giovanni Anselmetti, an interventional radiologist at the Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment in Turin, Italy and one of the study authors, advised: "Osteoporosis patients who have persistent spinal pain lasting more than three months should consult an interventional radiologist, and those who require constant narcotic pain relief should seek help immediately."