Kyphoplasty & Ongoing Pain - Osteoporosis Message Board

BoomerBones · 11-17-2007, 08:02 PM

Hi All,

This is my first post although I have become a faithful reader over the last 4 months. I'm 60 year old female with T11 compression fracture and I had a kyphoplasty 3 weeks ago. The pain has returned - big time - and now the doctor has ordered an MRI to see if there is another fracture. I can't believe I have another one - I haven't even gone through PT yet and done anything other than walk a little bit each day!
Have any of you experienced a return of pain after a kyphoplasty? The dr isn't saying much other than this is unusual and life should be grand. My feeling is they give you unrealistic expectations, like you'll jump off the table after the procedure,and your life will return to normal. Nothing could be further from the truth for me.
Spinal dexa is 2.9, hip is 3.5 and I'm now into 3rd year with Fosamax which obviously isn't doing a whole lot. Docs wanted me on Forteo about 4 months ago (when fracture first occurred) but I've been delaying a decision on this.
I welcome any of your thoughts and experiences about any of this.
Your insights and knowledge have kept my spirits up these last several months. It's great to have a community like this to turn to. Thank you!

osteoblast · 11-18-2007, 12:24 PM

BoomerBones-Hi

and Welcome to the board.I am sorry to hear about what you are going through following the kyphoplasty.I hope that your pain is subsiding .When will you go for the mri? Does it feel like it did when you first had a compression fracture?If you feel comfortable , perhaps it would help for you to share your story with us. When were you diagnosed? How did your compression fracture occur? Did you have prior fractures anywhere? How did you find the doctor who did the kyphoplasty and what did he say about the risks?

I do not have experience with kyphoplasty, perhaps someone with that experience will respond in time. I do have experience with osteo- I am 55 and my numbers are basically the reverse of yours, your hip number is my spine number and vice versa. None of our situations are exactly the same but it does seem to help to share what we are going through. There are alot of helpful , knowledgeable and caring people on this board . Recently the board has been a little slower than usual but give it a little time and I am certain you will have many who respond.I hope that we can help !!

osteoblast · 11-18-2007, 01:15 PM

BoomerBones-After writing my last message to you , I did some research on kyphoplasty. I searched with the following 3 words-"kyphoplasty" "risk" "mayo". The reason that I added mayo was that I recall reading an article about research mayo had done on kyphoplasty risks about a year ago. Your search should get you to mayo's patient information about the procedures done at mayo. If you then hit on the text links you will get to a listing of various scientific journal articles about research done on risks of kyphoplasty and there are short summaries available for most of the articles. The chief risk appears to be a stiffening of the spine due to the cement fill which may in some cases lead to adjacent fractures. Also there can be a leakage of the cement apparently as the needle is inserted and that cement tract can press on the disc causing pain. If I understood that article correctly. So, it appears that your pain could have at least two possible causes and I would expect that there may be many other possible causes as well . Do you think that worry over the procedure may have resulted in muscular tension that could be painful to you? Are you on a muscle relaxant ?I am sure this all must be quite stressful- Soon though you will have more information from the mri. Do you have close family members or friends you can rely on at this time? Does your general doctor provide support to you? Let us know how you are doing.You are in my prayers.Take care.

DesertBloom · 11-18-2007, 02:31 PM

Hi Boomerbones: Welcome to the board!!! I haven't ever had kyphoplasty, but I have had many lumbar fusions, disectomies etc. and I don't think that recurring pain 3 weeks post op is all that unusual. I know with this procedure most people get immediate relief, but I have talked to quite a few that took several weeks before they got any relief. If your pain went away post-op and then returned, there could be many explanations that only an mri will explain. Did the dr mention anything like residual nerve pain? With most back procedures there are many secondary problems that can occur that would cause pain, but they usually go away when the tissue, spine, vertebra calms down.

All the things that osteo mentioned are possible problems, but I wouldn't worry about these until I had the results of the mri. Hopefully you can find out soon what the cause is and have it treated. Since you haven't started PT, maybe that will help with some of the pain, when you are able to go.

I'm taking forteo, and I know that they are using this now to speed fracture healing plus it could help to prevent further fx's. Obviously taking a med like this is a "personal" choice so if you aren't comfortable with it I understand. Personally I have had great results with it and no side effects.

Since your surgery have you strained your thoracic spine in anyway? Sometimes the simplist movements can cause excruciating pain post op. Do you think the pain is worse than before the procedure?

Let us know what you find out... Good Luck

BoomerBones · 11-18-2007, 08:12 PM

DesertBloom and Osteoblast - thank you both for your helpful and thoughtful responses. This is the reason I have become an avid fan of this message board. The level of insight and knowledge of members such as the two of you gives hope to people like me who have gotten far too much conflicting information from specialists who are supposedly the "experts" in osteoporosis, therapy, and treatment modalities.
I fell on a cement train platform and suffered a T11 compression fracture plus a fractured cocyx bone. The cocyx healed but the T11 did not. I then found myself in a tug of war between one orthopod/physiatrist who recommended not to do the kyphoplasty and the surgeon who of course wanted it done immediately. I finally said yes to the kyphoplasty after 3 months of intense pain and not working.
My biggest issue with the docs is their inability to manage expectations. They lead you to believe that you do the procedure and you jump off the table and are "cured." But you are not. Your risk of fracture on the surrounding vertebrae increases dramatically which is scary when you consider that once you have any compression fracture you're automatically at highest risk for another one.
DesertBloom, I appreciate your guidance on the Forteo. I don't tolerate most drugs too easily but I don't think I can risk not taking Forteo at this point.
Thanks again for your support and rapid responses.
Best to all.