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Percutaneous vertebroplasty--a technique to treat refractory spinal pain in the setting of advanced metastatic cancer: a case series.

Burton AW, Reddy SK, Shah HN, Tremont-Lukats I, Mendel E

Department of Anesthesiology--Cancer Pain Management, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.

We present three cases of severe movement-related spinal pain in patients with advanced metastatic carcinomas successfully treated with percutaneous vertebroplasty (PV). These patients had multi-symptom burden and progressive metastasis. Their movement-related pain was incapacitating and refractory to a variety of more conservative interventions. PV is a minimally invasive technique to stabilize vertebral compression fractures, thereby decreasing spinal pain in this setting. Its use in the setting of advanced cancer with severe movement-related pain has not been previously clarified in the palliative care literature. In summary, PV is a technique with a favorable risk: benefit ratio even in the setting of advanced metastatic cancer. The keys to successful utilization of PV in this patient population are careful patient assessment and selection as outlined in the report, in addition to an experienced care team approach.

Published 26 July 2005 in J Pain Symptom Manage, 30(1): 87-95.
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