Vertebral compression fractures: pain reduction and improvement in functional mobility after percutaneous polymethylmethacrylate vertebroplasty retrospective report of 245 cases.

Purpose: To describe the immediate outcome of a large cohort of patients who underwent percutaneous polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) vertebroplasty for treatment of one or more vertebral fractures.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective cohort study included seven university-based and private hospitals in the United States. Of 488 consecutive patients (mean age, 76 years) who underwent percutaneous PMMA vertebroplasty between 1996 and 1999, 245 were successfully interviewed retrospectively after vertebroplasty (median time, 7 months).