At Injury Medicine, we offer Kyphoplasty in Spartanburg and throughout South Carolina. Some spinal injuries may cause compression fractures on the spine, which develop as painful cracks. These cracks can be treated using a surgical procedure known as kyphoplasty.

The procedure is quite effective, with its most significant benefit being less recovery time and pain relief. The surgery aims to reduce pain and improve movement, and some patients even report instant pain reduction. Since it is minimally invasive, we allow most patients to leave our facilities on the same day as the procedure. Patients benefit from a reduced risk of infection, fewer surgical scars, and a faster recovery.

At Injury Medicine, we have experienced orthopedic surgeons in Spartanburg ready to perform this procedure. Let us help you find relief with kyphoplasty. Schedule your appointment by calling 864-866-PAIN today.

What Is Kyphoplasty?

Kyphoplasty is a minimally invasive surgical procedure performed to restore the spine’s stability after a vertebrae fracture and provide pain relief. Spinal fractures usually cause severe back pain and can be the result of:

• Osteoporosis: a condition involving thinning of the bones, making them vulnerable to fracturing.
• Injury: any injury on the spine compromising the vertebrae.
• Cancer: cancer treatments that make the bones susceptible to fracturing.

Symptoms of a vertebrae fracture include:

• Limited spinal mobility
• Sudden onset of neck and back pain
• An increase in pain intensity while walking or standing
• A decrease in pain intensity when you lie on your back
• A hunched-forward posture
• Lost height

The goals of a kyphoplasty procedure include stabilizing the spine, restoring vertebrae height, and providing pain relief. Feel free to call 864-866-PAIN and make an appointment with the kyphoplasty specialist at Injury Medicine for a consultation.

How Does Kyphoplasty Work?

When it’s been confirmed that you have vertebrae fractures and reduced bone density, we may recommend conservative back injury treatments. If those fail to provide sufficient relief, we may offer to relieve your pain with kyphoplasty.

This minimally invasive procedure is performed through a small skin puncture instead of a larger incision and typically takes 1 to 2 hours per vertebra. The procedure mainly aims to restore the lost vertebral height, eliminate back pain, and stabilize any fractured vertebra.

We take you through the particular requirements before performing the procedure to ensure that you are well-prepared. At Injury Medicine in Spartanburg, SC, we inform our kyphoplasty patients of the requirements and expectations before, during, and after the surgery.

Before

Before kyphoplasty, we conduct an in-depth medical consultation to help you understand the procedure’s benefits in treating your condition to alleviate pain. Next, we will contact you some time before the Kyphoplasty procedure takes place.

After the initial assessment, we provide all the essential instructions needed to prepare for the procedure and our expectations from you as you arrive at our clinic. You should arrive at our clinic at least three hours before the scheduled time so that we check if everything is in order.

Moreover, you should avoid eating eight hours before undergoing your surgical treatment. In addition, you should stay hydrated by drinking clear liquids. Do not drink alcohol, milk, or orange juice.

You should inform us in advance if you are on any medication. If you are taking blood thinners or have diabetes, you will need instructions from your doctor.

During

Our doctors at Injury Medicine strive to ensure that you feel comfortable under our care. Therefore, they will be eager to answer any questions regarding the procedure. Kyphoplasty is performed under general or local anesthesia and takes about an hour. The steps involved include:

• During the kyphoplasty procedure, we will lie you face down on the operating table. The position ensures that you are comfortably lying while providing unrestricted access to the spine.
• We will then inject you with an antibiotic to curb any potential infection and apply a local anesthetic to sterilize the particular body part to be worked on.
• The actual procedure will start with your Spartanburg back pain doctor at Injury Medicine making a small incision on the damaged vertebrae.
• Next, they will use a fluoroscope to insert a narrow tube to reach the location of your spine where there’s a fracture. The doctor will then proceed to insert a tiny balloon into the tube and inflate it.

Doing this elevates the fractured vertebra and restores it to its original position. The purpose of the balloon is to create a cavity within the bones.

After extracting the ballon, your doctor will use specialized tools to fill the cavity with medical-grade cement called polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) that quickly hardens to stabilize the vertebrae and restore the height and space of the spine. If more than one spot is to be treated, the procedure may take longer than an hour.

After

After the procedure, we take you to a recovery room for close monitoring to ensure you have negligible anesthetic reactions. If all is well, you can go home the same day. However, we advise you not to drive yourself back home. Instead, get someone to pick you up.

If the injection site at your back feels a bit sore a few days after the treatment, place an ice pack for at least twenty minutes per hour to limit pain and swelling. Most importantly, ensure you abide by the instructions provided by the physician. All in all, rest assured that we will follow up to ensure you are recovering well.

As a minimally invasive surgery, your can expect your recovery prognosis to be less painful and much quicker than traditional open surgeries.

Call us at 864-866-PAIN to schedule your initial examination.

What Are the Potential Risks of Kyphoplasty?

Kyphoplasty may sometimes come along with some general surgical risks, including infection, excessive bleeding, or a negative anesthesia reaction. Risks include:

• Bone Cement Leakage: A slight possibility exists that bone cement may leak along the outside of the needle into the surrounding soft tissues. It can also happen when the needle is removed from the vertebra.
• Paralysis: Any operation on the spine carries the risk of damage to the spinal nerves or cord, which may cause numbness or paralysis.
• Pain persistence: In some cases, kyphoplasty fails to relieve pain or causes pain or other symptoms to worsen. This can be due to bone cement leakage.
• Pulmonary Embolism: If bone cement enters a vertebral vein, it has the potential to travel to the lungs and obstruct an artery.
• Bone Cement Allergic Reaction: Kyphoplasty agents such as bone cement (PMMA) or the solution used to see the balloon via x-ray can cause an allergic reaction.

The risks of kyphoplasty are significantly reduced when it is done by trained and experienced physicians such as those at Injury Medicine using X-ray guidance. Our specialists have a lot of experience performing the procedure.

Choose Injury Medicine for Your Kyphoplasty in Spartanburg, SC!

Chronic pain due to spinal injury negatively affects your daily activities such as walking, cooking, and playing. It is extremely exhausting to live with the condition, and things may worsen if you find no appropriate treatment. Untreated, a spine fracture can lead to a weakened and abnormally curved spine and extreme pain.

At Injury Medicine, we understand the impact of chronic pain on your health and overall life.

We use a multidisciplinary approach to treat people suffering from chronic pain. We take our patients through in-depth consultations to determine the nature of their condition or injury and develop an adequate treatment plan depending on their different health conditions.

Our Spartanburg injury center team has extensive experience performing kyphoplasty procedures. Your safety and well-being are our priority. Talk to us at 864-866-PAIN to discuss how kyphoplasty can relieve pain from vertebral fractures.