[Comparison of effectiveness of Vesselplasty and percutaneous kyphoplasty for Kümmell disease].

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of Vesselplasty and percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) in treatment of Kümmell disease.

Methods: Between January 2015 and December 2018, 63 patients with Kümmell disease were treated. Among them, 28 cases were treated with Vesselplasty (Vesselplasty group) and 35 cases were treated with PKP (PKP group). There was no significant difference in gender, age, disease duration, bone mineral density (T value), fracture distribution, and preoperative pain visual analogue scale (VAS) score, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), anterior height of injured vertebrae, and kyphosis Cobb angle between the two groups ( >0.05). The operation time, intraoperative fluoroscopy time, bone cement injection volume, the leakage rate of bone cement, the diffusion area ratio of bone cement, and the complications of the two groups were recorded. VAS score, ODI, anterior height of injured vertebrae, and kyphosis Cobb angle were compared between the two groups before operation and at 1 day after operation and last follow-up.

Results: All patients of the two groups were followed up 12-36 months, with an average of 24.2 months. The operation time, intraoperative fluoroscopy time, bone cement injection volume, and diffusion area ratio of bone cement were significantly lower in the Vesselplasty group than in the PKP group ( <0.05). The leakage rate of bone cement was significantly lower in the Vesselplasty group (7.14%) than in the PKP group (34.29%) ( =5.153, =0.023). At 1 day after operation and last follow-up, the VAS score, ODI, anterior height of injured vertebrae, and kyphosis Cobb angle of the two groups were superior to those before operation ( <0.05), and no significant difference between the two groups ( >0.05). During the follow-up, there was no re-collapse of vertebrae, and the adjacent vertebrae fracture occurred in 2 cases of the Vesselplasty group and 5 cases of PKP group. There was no significant difference in the incidence of adjacent vertebrae fracture between the Vesselplasty group (7.14%) and the PKP group (14.29%) ( =0.243, =0.622).

Conclusion: Vesselplasty and PKP have similar effectiveness in the treatment of Kümmell disease. They can effectively relieve the pain symptoms, improve the quality of life, partially restore the height of injured vertebrae, and correct kyphosis. But the Vesselplasty has the advantages of shorter operation time, less intraoperative fluoroscopy time, and less bone cement leakage.