Doubt over back procedure

A world-first study involving Monash University and the Cabrini Research Institute in Melbourne has cast doubt on the efficacy of an accepted medical procedure.

It found the injection of bone cement into broken vertebrae is not an effective treatment for patients suffering painful osteoporotic fractures.

The treatment, known as percutaneous vertebroplasty, is regularly recommended by doctors and specialists around the world. About 600 patients in Australia alone undergo the procedure annually.

The study results were published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.

Director of the Monash Department of Clinical Epidemiology at Cabrini Hospital, Professor Rachelle Buchbinder said the trial results showed that vertebroplasty was no better than a placebo.

Therefore potential risks outweighed any potential benefits. "We assessed each patient at the one-week, one-month, three-month and six-month stage of their recovery and found the technique has no significant benefits at any time during a patient's recovery," Professor Buchbinder said.

"Those who had undergone the vertebroplasty treatment showed no additional improvement in symptoms such as pain at night or at rest, function, quality of life or perceived improvement over patients in the placebo group," Professor Buchbinder said.

Almost 80 patients with osteoporotic fractures participated in the six-month randomised trial. About half were given vertebroplasty as a treatment and the rest were given a 'sham' treatment.

To simulate the real procedure, patients in the 'sham' group had a local anaesthetic and insertion of a needle in the back and were exposed to the smell of the bone cement. Both sets of patients otherwise received the same care.

The research was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council along with contributions from Arthritis Australia, Cabrini Institute and medical products manufacturer Cook Australia.