ScienceDaily (Apr. 30, 2009) — The advice and treatment given to patients with vertebral compression fractures is not satisfactory. A thesis presented at the Sahlgrenska Academy shows that the majority of patients still have severe pain one year after the fracture.

Vertebral compression fracture describes the pressing together of a vertebra in the spine such that its height is decreased. Approximately 15,000 patients suffer from vertebral compression fractures in Sweden each year, most of these caused by osteoporosis. The fracture that arises is treated with analgesics, and the patients are advised about exercise.

"The patients are told that the prognosis is good and that most people get better after a few months, but no-one has actually investigated the prognosis and course of such acute compression fractures," says Professor Tommy Hansson who was supervisor for the thesis.

The author of the thesis, research student Nobuyi Suzuki, returned to Japan immediately after the disputation.

The thesis shows that reality is quite different for patients with vertebral compression. The study followed 107 men and women in Gothenburg for one year after they had been admitted to hospital with a vertebral compression fracture. Once the initial period of acute pain had passed, the patients’ condition improved somewhat, but many subsequently deteriorated. Over two thirds had intense pain or very intense pain one year after the injury. This degree of pain is fully comparable with that experienced by patients with lumbar disc herniation immediately before undergoing surgery.

"The thesis shows clearly that the treatment and advice that is given to patients with an acute vertebral compression fracture is far from satisfactory. We must develop new methods for l investigating and treating these patients," says Tommy Hansson.

Osteoporosis In Brief

Osteoporosis causes a reduction in the strength of the skeleton making it much easier for a person with osteoporosis to suffer from fractures. The most common fractures occur in the vertebrae, hip and wrist. Osteoporosis is more than twice as common in women than it is in men, and a middle-aged woman has a 50% risk of suffering a fracture caused by osteoporosis in her remaining years.

Thesis: The acute osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture. Its natural course and characteristics.

Story Source:

Adapted from materials provided by University of Gothenburg.

Related Stories

New Treatment Method Reduces Pain In Patients With Vertebral Compression Fractures (Aug. 4, 2009) — Vesselplasty, a new minimally invasive procedure, increases mobility, and reduces pain and the need for pain killers in patients with vertebral compression fractures (VCFs), according to a new study. ...  > read more

Vitamin D Supplements Associated With Reduced Fracture Risk In Older Adults (Mar. 30, 2009) — Oral vitamin D supplements at a dose of at least 400 international units per day are associated with a reduced risk of bone fractures in older adults, according to results of a ...  > read more

Vertebroplasty Improves Back Pain, Activity Level, Mayo Clinic Study Reports (Dec. 30, 2005) — A Mayo Clinic study has found patients report less back pain at rest and while active following vertebroplasty, a procedure in which medical cement is injected into painful compression fractures in ...  > read more

Hip And Back Fractures Increase Mortality Rates In People Older Than 50 (Aug. 4, 2009) — Vertebral and hip fractures are associated with an increased risk of death, found a new study of 7753 people in Canada aged 50 years and older published in CMAJ. According to the results, ...  > read more

Elderly Women With 'Dowager's Hump' May Be At Higher Risk Of Earlier Death (May 26, 2009) — Hyperkyphosis, or "dowager's hump" -- the exaggerated forward curvature of the upper spine seen commonly in elderly women -- may predict earlier death in women whether or not they have vertebral ...  > read more

Search ScienceDaily

New Test For Chronic Cough