Extract
Vertebroplasty is widely used for the palliative stabilization of
osteoporotic fractures and vertebral metastases. Serious complications with
this procedure are rare and, as a result, vertebroplasty is being performed
increasingly in hospitals without a spinal surgery unit or even in radiology
practices where such complications may not be managed adequately when they
arise. The leakage of cement into draining veins is the most frequent
complication1,2,
followed by cement penetration into the spinal canal. Fatal pulmonary embolism
has been reported, and small cement emboli are not
uncommon1,3.
When cement penetration into the spinal canal causes a neurological deficit,
decompression and often removal of the cement are required. The case of a
patient who had an epidural hematoma after kyphoplasty associated with the
postoperative administration of an intravenous heparin bolus has been
described4. We
report the case of a patient who had an acute epidural hemorrhage causing
paraplegia as a complication from vertebroplasty. To the best of our
knowledge, this is the first such report. The patient was informed that data
concerning the case would be submitted for publication.