Multicenter study to assess the efficacy and safety of sacroplasty in patients with osteoporotic sacral insufficiency fractures or pathologic sacral lesions

Objective To assess the outcomes and safety after CT-guided percutaneous sacroplasty in patients with painful sacral insufficiency fractures or pathologic sacral lesions. Methods A retrospective multicenter analysis of consecutive patients undergoing CT-guided sacroplasty for painful sacral insufficiency fractures or sacral lesions was undertaken. The inclusion criteria consisted of severe sacral pain not responding to conservative medical management with imaging evidence of unilateral or bilateral sacral insufficiency fractures or lesions. Outcome measures included hospitalization status (inpatient or outpatient), pre-treatment and post-treatment visual analog scale (VAS) scores, analgesic use and complications. Patients were followed at approximately 1month and for at least 1year after their sacroplasty procedure. Results Two hundred and forty-three patients were included in the study, 204 with painful sacral insufficiency fractures and 39 with symptomatic sacral lesions. The average pre-treatment VAS score of 9.2 +/- 1.1 was significantly improved after sacroplasty to 1.9 +/- 1.7 in patients with sacral insufficiency fractures (p<0.001). The average pre-treatment VAS score of 9.0 +/- 0.9 in patients with sacral lesions was significantly improved after sacroplasty to 2.6 +/- 2.4 (p<0.001). There were no major complications or procedure-related deaths. One patient who was treated for a sacral insufficiency fracture experienced radicular pain due to local extravasation of cement that subsequently required surgical decompression for symptomatic relief. Conclusions CT-guided percutaneous sacroplasty is a safe and effective procedure in the treatment of painful sacral insufficiency fractures or lesions. It is associated with prompt and durable pain relief and should be considered as an effective treatment option in this patient population.