ABSTRACT
A major complaint of 85% of patients with a radiological diagnosis of osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF) is back pain, which may be either acute and excruciating or chronic and persistent (1,2). Acute back pain is usually caused by a recent OVCF, and in the majority of patients it is expected to subside as the fracture heals over a period of approximately 3 months (3). However, an estimated 33% (4) to 75% (5) of these patients may develop chronic back pain. Chronic pain may arise from persistent intravertebral motion as observed in cases of pseudarthrosis, which can occur with an incidence of 44% per patient or 35% per fracture (6). Deformity is another source of chronic pain following an OVCF. Furthermore, spinal deformity is a significant cause of disability resulting directly from the impairment of physical functioning, health, and quality of life (7).
