Compression fracture
Encyclopedia
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a disease of bones that leads to an increased risk of fracture. In osteoporosis the bone mineral density is reduced, bone microarchitecture is deteriorating, and the amount and variety of proteins in bone is altered...
or osteogenesis imperfecta
Osteogenesis imperfecta
Osteogenesis imperfecta is a genetic bone disorder. People with OI are born with defective connective tissue, or without the ability to make it, usually because of a deficiency of Type-I collagen...
, lytic lesions from metastatic or primary tumors, or infection. In healthy patients it is most often seen in individuals suffering extreme vertical shocks, such as ejection seats. Seen in lateral views in plain x-ray films, compression fractures of the spine characteristically appear as wedge deformities, with greater loss of height anteriorly than posteriorly and intact pedicles
Pedicle of vertebral arch
The pedicles are two short, thick processes, which project dorsally, one on either side, from the superior part of the vertebral body at the junction of its posterior and lateral surfaces. They connect the body of the spinal vertebra to the arch...
in the anteroposterior view.
Surgical
- Kyphoplasty and vertebroplastyVertebroplastyVertebroplasty and kyphoplasty are similar medical spinal procedure where bone cement is injected through a small hole in the skin into a fractured vertebra with the goal of relieving the pain of vertebral compression fractures...
, minimally invasive procedures designed to treat pain from osteoporotic compression fractures and sometimes other forms of fracture, such as a fracture caused by certain types of cancer. Vertebroplasty has been found to be ineffective.