Fracture

Vertebra fracture or dislocation happen when more pressure is put on a bone than it can stand, or when soft tissue (ligaments, discs) connecting two vertebrae together are stretched or torn. The bone then may break or come out of normal alignment. Most spinal fractures are trauma (car accident, fall, sport…) related, but people affected by osteoporosis or diseases such as cancer, osteopetrosis, osteopenia, osteomalacia… that weaken the bone rigidity are at high risk for vertebral fractures, mostly compression fractures.

Injuries related to vertebrae fractures can be ligament and/or muscle strains, and/or debilitating spinal cord damage. A burst fracture may also send bone fragments into the spinal canal and damage a spinal cord. Depending on the severity of the related injured, the person may experience back pain, difficulty or incapacity to walk, paralysis.

Young aged 18-25 years are the most affected, and men are more likely to have a traumatic spinal fracture than women.

Depending on the severity of the injury, fractures may be treated with conservative treatment or may require surgery.

Braces and Orthotics may be used to treat stable fracture that doesn’t damage the spinal cord or other tissue around a fracture. Braces and Orthotics help maintains spinal alignment, immobilizes the spine to control the healing by restricting movement. Some instable fractures or dislocations may require traction to realign the spine into its correct position.

Severe and unstable fractures may require surgery to realign the bones. Intervertebral fusion is a bridging of two or more vertebrae with a bone graft held together with device such as plates, rods, hooks, pedicle screws, or cages. The goal of the bone graft is to induce (osteoinduction) and allow bone tissue to grow from adjacent vertebrae, through its porous structure in order to firmly join adjacent vertebrae which will form one solid piece of bone.

Compression fractures caused by diseases that weaken or damage the structure of the bone may require surgical procedures called Vertebroplasty or Kyphoplasty. Vertebroplasty consists of the injection of bone cement or other material through a hollow needle into the fractured vertebral body in order to rebuild a broken bone. The procedure may restore lost height and increase the density and resistance of the bone. In Kyphoplasty, through a small incision in the back, a special balloon device is inserted into the compacted vertebrae and inflated to expand the compressed vertebra. Then bone cement or other material is injected into the space created by the balloon to attempt the restoration of the vertebra to a normal shape. 

Coming soon…