Dr. Francisco Manuel Cardama Barrientos, traumatologist of Top Doctors, will talk to us about discoplasties and kyphoplasty.
What do discoplasties and kyphoplasties consist of?
Kyphoplasty consists of introducing a tube percutaneously to the inside of the vertebra, of the vertebral body, introducing a balloon through the tube, inflating the balloon, dilating the fractured vertebra so that it recovers its original height and filling it with cement.
Discplasty consists of introducing a catheter percutaneously to the center of the intervertebral disc and vaporizing the interior of the disc with a laser beam to cause the disc to shrink.
Can anyone undergo this treatment and is there any risk involved?
Any patient can resort to this treatment because it has fewer contraindications and risks than open surgery.
What are the advantages of discplasty?
Discplasty allows us to treat symptomatic disc protrusions by a minimally invasive route and with minimal risk of injury to the noble structures.
What are the advantages of kyphoplasty?
The advantages of kyphoplasty are that it allows us to treat vertebral fractures in a minimally invasive way and with a brief operation and often spectacular results for the fractures. It would not be feasible in most cases to operate on these fractures, so the patient would have to remain in pain for a few months with some type of orthopedic corset and rest.
What is the difference between kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty?
Vertebroplasty consists of filling the vertebra with cement, also percutaneously, without attempting to restore its original size. The advantages of kyphoplasty are very important because often all or part of the original size of the vertebra can be restored.