Medtronic has reported data analysis suggesting that a patient group over 65 years in the US, whose spinal fractures were treated with minimally invasive surgery, had higher survival rates up to four years after treatment when compared to a patient group that did not have surgery.
The data also suggested that among the patients who were treated with minimally invasive surgery, those treated with balloon kyphoplasty had higher survival rate up to four years after treatment than a sub-group that was treated with vertebroplasty.
During the evaluation period Kyphon Balloon Kyphoplasty was the only balloon kyphoplasty treatment for spinal fractures cleared by the FDA in the US
Kyphon Balloon Kyphoplasty is a minimally invasive procedure which uses orthopaedic balloons and bone cement to repair the spinal fracture.
For the study, researchers looked at US Medicare patients who had suffered vertebral compression fractures had suffered vertebral compression fractures from 2005 through 2008.
Among a population of 858,978 spinal fracture patients, 119,253 or 13.9% were treated with balloon kyphoplasty, 63,693 or 7.4% were treated with vertebroplasty and the remaining were treated only with non-surgical care such as pain medication, bed rest, physiotherapy or bracing.
The evaluation was conducted by Exponent, a scientific and engineering consulting firm and Medtronic.