Anterior spinal fixation for recollapse of cemented vertebrae after percutaneous vertebroplasty

Although recollapse after percutaneous vertebroplasty (PV) is a serious complication that needs salvage surgery, there is no consensus regarding the best operative treatment for this failure. We present cases of 3 patients, diagnosed as having thoracic osteoporotic vertebral fractures, who had undergone PV at other institutes. Within less than half a year, recollapse occurred at the cemented vertebrae in all 3 patients, and we conducted anterior spinal fixation (ASF) on them. In all cases, ASF relieved the patient's severe low back pain, and there was no recurrence of symptoms during the follow-up period of 6 years, on average. ASF is the optimal salvage procedure, since it allows for the direct decompression of nerve tissue with reconstruction of the collapsed spinal column, and preservation of the ligaments and muscles that stabilise the posterior spine. Surgeons who perform PV need to be able to assess this failure early and to perform spinal fixation.