Back pain is general term used to describe a variety of conditions. Among the many causes of back pain, including spinal degeneration, spinal stenosis (narrowing that exerts pressure on nerves), or disc herniation or protrusion compression fractures are among the most common. The most common cause for compression fracture of the spine is osteoporosis or softening of the bone. Other causes of spine compression fractures include trauma or tumor.
More than one-fourth of women over age 65 will develop a compression fracture due to osteoporosis. Like fractures elsewhere in the body, compression fractures can cause pain and result in reduced mobility. Reduced mobility can accelerate bone loss or softening and lead to more compression fractures. Vertebroplasty is a minimally invasive procedure used for treatment of painful compression fractures of the thoracic or lumbar spine. Often, vertebroplasty is recommended after simpler treatments, such as bedrest, a back brace or pain medications have been tried and found ineffective or intolerable.
