ReviewEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2010
Volume matters: a review of procedural details of two randomised controlled vertebroplasty trials of 2009.
Review in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Vertebroplasty for acute painful osteoporotic fractures (VAPOUR): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.Trials · 2015Trial
- A randomised sham controlled trial of vertebroplasty for painful acute osteoporotic vertebral fractures (VERTOS IV).Trials · 2011Trial
- Mechanisms and protective factors of pulmonary cement embolism associated with percutaneous cementoplasty for bone metastasis in the pelvis: A retro-prospective study.Skeletal radiology · 2026Article
- Osteoporotic vertebral fractures: an update.SICOT-J · 2025Article
- Vessel-Plasty Using Bone-Filling Mesh Container for Treatment of Malignant Severe Compression Fractures in Cervical Vertebrae.Journal of pain research · 2022Article
- Observational
- Cement augmentation of odontoid peg fractures: the effect of cement volume and distribution on construct stiffness.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2020Article
- Vertebral body cemented stents combined with posterior stabilization in the surgical treatment of metastatic spinal cord compression of the thoracolumbar spine.Surgical neurology international · 2020Article
- The safety and efficacy of percutaneous vertebroplasty for patients over 90 years old.Japanese journal of radiology · 2019Article
- Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty for Osteoporotic Vertebral Fractures: What Are the Latest Data?AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology · 2018Review
- Minimally Invasive Surgical Techniques for Management of Painful Metastatic and Primary Spinal Tumors.Cureus · 2017Review
- Percutaneous vertebral augmentation in fragility fractures-indications and limitations.European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society · 2017Review
- Appropriate Cement Volume in Vertebroplasty: A Multivariate Analysis with Short-Term Follow-Up.Korean journal of neurotrauma · 2016Article
- A Classification System for the Spread of Polymethyl Methacrylate in Vertebral Bodies Treated with Vertebral Augmentation.Tomography (Ann Arbor, Mich.) · 2016Article
- Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty for cervical spine metastases: a systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of spine surgery · 2016Article
- Magnetic resonance imaging changes of intervertebral discs after kyphoplasty.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2015Article
- Cement volume is the most important modifiable predictor for pain relief in BKP: results from SWISSspine, a nationwide registry.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2013Article
- Vertebroplasty.Seminars in interventional radiology · 2013Review
- Does the cement stiffness affect fatigue fracture strength of vertebrae after cement augmentation in osteoporotic patients?European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Two recent randomised controlled trials (RCT) published by the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) in 2009 comparing vertebroplasty to sham procedures have concluded that vertebroplasty is no more effective than injection of local anaesthetic at the pedicle entry point. This finding contradicts previously published clinical series on vertebroplasty which have shown clinical efficacy. The procedural details of the two RCTs are analysed specifically with regard to vertebral levels treated and injected polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) volumes in an attempt to combine the data for assessment against the available basic science underpinning the effect of vertebral augmentation procedures. Neither investigation provides a breakdown of the vertebral levels treated in the original publication or in supplementary online material. Only one investigation provides information on fill volumes with an overall average fill volume of 2.8 ± 1.2 ml SD. The available basic science indicates a minimum fill volume of 13-16% of the vertebral body volume to be necessary for a relevant biomechanical effect on restoration of vertebral strength. The most commonly treated vertebrae of the thoracolumbar junction have an anatomical vertebral body volume of ~30 ml. An effective fill would require a minimum of ~4 ml PMMA. Anatomical volumes and required fill volumes increase towards the lower lumbar spine. According to the available basic science, only vertebrae of the upper to mid thoracic spine could reasonably have received a biomechanically effective fill with the declared average volume of 2.8 ± 1.2 ml SD. The available data of the NEJM publications strongly indicates that the treatment arm includes patients who were not treated in a reasonably effective manner. The technical information provided by the NEJM publications is insufficient to conclusively prove or disprove the clinical efficacy of vertebroplasty.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.