[Epidemiological and clinical characteristics analysis of 681 cases of thoracolumbar osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures].

Objective: To investigate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of patients with thoracolumbar osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF) treated by percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP).

Methods: The clinical and imaging data of 681 patients with thoracolumbar OVCF treated with PVP between January 2017 and December 2021 were collected. The epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the patients with thoracolumbar OVCF in single center were summarized from the aspects of demographic distribution (mainly including gender, age), fracture characteristic analysis [including pathological segments, bone mineral density, and body mass index (BMI)], and operation related results (including the distribution of unilateral and bilateral puncture and bone cement injection, postoperative effectiveness analysis and refracture).

Results: Of the 681 patients, 134 (19.68%) were male and 547 (80.32%) were female, with a male-to-female ratio of 1∶4.08. The age ranged from 53 to 105 years, with an average of 75.3 years. The age group of 60-90 years old had the largest number of patients (91.04%); the high incidence age group of men was 70-90 years old (13.95%), and that of women was 60-80 years old (72.98%). A total of 836 vertebrae were involved, and the morbidity of thoracolumbar vertebrae (T -L ) was the highest (56.34%, 471/836). The main type of fracture was compression fracture (92.58%, 774/836) and Kümmell disease (7.42%, 62/836). There were 489 cases (71.81%) of osteoporosis, including 66 males and 423 females, with a male-to-female ratio of 1∶6.42. There was significant difference in distribution of bone mineral density between male and female groups ( =-5.810, <0.001). BMI showed 206 cases (30.25%) of underweight, 347 (50.95%) cases of normal, 58 cases (8.52%) of overweight, 42 cases (6.17%) of obese, and 28 cases (4.11%) of extremely obese. The difference in BMI distribution between male and female groups was significant ( =-2.220, =0.026). Of 836 vertebral bodies, 472 (56.46%) were punctured unilaterally and 364 (43.54%) bilaterally. Most of the vertebral bodies (49.88%, 417/836) were injected with 5.0-6.9 mL bone cement, and most of them were distributed in thoracolumbar and lumbar vertebral bodies (T -L ). The visual analogue scale (VAS) score and Oswestry disability index (ODI) of patients with unilateral puncture and bilateral puncture significantly improved at 6 months after operation ( <0.001), and also the difference was significant between the two groups in the difference of pre- and post-operation ( 0.001). There were 628 cases (92.22%) with the first occurrence of OVCF, and 53 cases (7.78%) with two or more times of OVCF, all of which were female patients, and 26 cases (49.06%) occurred in the adjacent segment of the previous PVP operation.

Conclusion: Female were more than male in OVCF patients. Thoracolumbar vertebral body has the highest morbidity. Patients with low BMI are more likely to have osteoporosis, and patients with high BMI have a higher risk of compression fracture. The amount of bone cement injected through bilateral puncture was greater than that through unilateral puncture.