nitinol and Back-Pain

This report details a trial demonstrating the viability of a blunt-tipped curved needle for use as a cement injection device for vertebral body augmentation. Between January and September 2007, 17 consecutive patients (eight men and nine women; average age, 76 years; age range, 52-97 years) underwent vertebral body augmentation with a blunt-tipped curved nitinol injection needle via a single pedicle to treat pain due to acute vertebral body compression fractures. All patients were successfully treated without complication. The results of the trial demonstrate that a curved blunt-tipped nitinol needle is a viable alternative to a rigid injection cannula when performing vertebral body augmentation with cement.

Topics: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alloys; Back Pain; Bone Cements; Equipment Design; Female; Fractures, Compression; Humans; Injections; Lumbar Vertebrae; Male; Middle Aged; Needles; Pain Measurement; Pilot Projects; Prospective Studies; Radiography, Interventional; Spinal Fractures; Thoracic Vertebrae; Treatment Outcome; Vertebroplasty