An exciting new NHMRC-funded trial:

Is Vertebroplasty effective and safe for painful osteoporotic spinal fractures?

In Australia, 20-25% of women and 15-20% of men over the age of 50 will develop one or more fractures of their spine in their lifetime. Up to a half of these fractures will result in severe pain and disability. Up to now, there are no treatments that have been shown to effectively manage the pain and shorten the recovery time.

Vertebroplasty is a new procedure that injects of a type of 'bone cement' directly into the spinal fracture. It is thought that this might result in an immediate and sustained improvement in pain. However so far this is unproven, as proper studies that compare this new treatment to usual medical care have not been performed.

We have a unique opportunity to evaluate vertebroplasty through a randomised placebo-controlled trial being performed at Cabrini, Alfred and Royal Melbourne Hospitals, together with Monash Medical Centre. The outcome of our proposed research will be to establish whether vertebroplasty is effective and safe for painful osteoporotic spinal fractures.

People who may be eligible include those with:

• one or two recent/acute osteoporotic vertebral fractures and
• back pain of 12 months or less duration

All procedure are free of charge to participants. If you have a potentially eligible patient or would like to know more about the trial, please call A/Prof Rachelle Buchbinder for the Collaborative Vertebroplasty Research Group or the research co-ordinator Lainie Wengier on Ph: (03) 9508 1652