Comparison of unilateral and bilateral puncture percutaneous kyphoplasty in the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures.

Objectives: To compare the clinical efficacy of unilateral and bilateral puncture PKP in the treatment of OVCFs and explored whether there is a difference in the efficacy of unilateral and bilateral puncture PKP after surgery.

Methods: A total of 98 patients with OVCFs treated by PKP from August 2016 to June 2018 were selected. There were 62 cases in the unilateral puncture group and 36 cases in the bilateral puncture group. The operation time, the amount of bone cement injection, the height of the anterior edge of the vertebral body and the visual analog scale (Visual Analog Scale, VAS) scores before and after the operation were analyzed, and whether the differences between the 2 groups were statistically significant was analyzed.

Results: All patients were followed up completely. The operation time and the number of X-ray fluoroscopies of the unilateral puncture group were significantly reduced compared to those of the bilateral group, and the difference was statistically significant (<0.05). In terms of the bone cement injection volume, the average injection volume of the bilateral group was greater than that of the unilateral group, and the difference was statistically significant (<0.05); the postoperative VAS scores of the 2 groups of patients were significantly improved, and the difference was statistically significant compared with that before surgery (<0.05) but that of the unilateral group was not statistically significant compared with that of the bilateral group (>0.05). The height of the anterior edge of the vertebral body in both groups was significantly improved compared with that before the operation, and the difference was statistically significant (<0.05).

Conclusion: Unilateral and bilateral puncture PKP can achieve good clinical efficacy in the treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures, but unilateral PKP has the advantages of short operation time and low X-ray exposure.