ArticleAJNR. American journal of neuroradiology2020
Number Needed to Treat with Vertebral Augmentation to Save a Life.
Article in AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 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
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- ESR Essentials: percutaneous bone consolidation-practice recommendations by the European Society of Musculoskeletal Radiology.European radiology · 2025Guideline
- Mechanical augmentation for vertebral compression fractures: A scoping review.Interventional pain medicine · 2026Review
- Injectable, Solvent Free Strontium Carbonate Poly(Allyl Glycidyl Ether Succinate) Composite Networks for Vertebral Augmentation.Advanced healthcare materials · 2025Article
- The effectiveness of balloon kyphoplasty compared to conservative treatment for osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Interventional pain medicine · 2025Review
- Real-world rates and risk factors for subsequent treatment with vertebroplasty or balloon kyphoplasty after initial vertebral augmentation: a retrospective cohort study.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2025Article
- Evaluating osteoporosis and bone quality in the aging spine: modern considerations for surgical management in the geriatric population.GeroScience · 2024Review
- Multidisciplinary and Coordinated Management of Osteoporotic Vertebral Compression Fractures: Current State of the Art.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Cementoplasty to cryoablation: review and current status.BJR open · 2024Review
- Vertebral augmentation: an overview.Skeletal radiology · 2023Review
- The small trial problem.Trials · 2023Article
- Vertebral Augmentation: Is It Time to Get Past the Pain? A Consensus Statement from the Sardinia Spine and Stroke Congress.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Article
- Venous injection of a triphasic calcium-based implant in a sheep model of pulmonary embolism demonstrates minimal acute systemic effects.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 · 2022Article
- Management of Osteoporosis and Spinal Fractures: Contemporary Guidelines and Evolving Paradigms.Clinical medicine & research · 2022Review
- Minimally Invasive Stent Screw-Assisted Internal Fixation Technique Corrects Kyphosis in Osteoporotic Vertebral Fractures with Severe Collapse: A Pilot "Vertebra Plana" Series.AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology · 2022Article
- Trends in opioid use following balloon kyphoplasty or vertebroplasty for the treatment of vertebral compression fractures.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2022Article
- Interventional Procedures for Vertebral Diseases: Spinal Tumor Ablation, Vertebral Augmentation, and Basivertebral Nerve Ablation-A Scoping Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Vertebral augmentation reduces the 12-month mortality and morbidity in patients with osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures.European radiology · 2021Article
- Practice Patterns of Spine Surgeons Regarding Osteoporosis: An International Survey.International journal of spine surgery · 2021Article
- Cost-effectiveness of balloon kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty versus conservative medical management in the USA.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2020Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on byReply.2020
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
6 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
background and purposeEvidence from randomized controlled trials for the efficacy of vertebral augmentation in vertebral compression fractures has been mixed. However, claims-based analyses from national registries or insurance datasets have demonstrated a significant mortality benefit for patients with vertebral compression fractures who receive vertebral augmentation. The purpose of this study was to calculate the number needed to treat to save 1 life at 1 year and up to 5 years after vertebral augmentation. MATERIALS AND
methodsA 10-year sample of the 100% US Medicare data base was used to identify patients with vertebral compression fractures treated with nonsurgical management, balloon kyphoplasty, and vertebroplasty. The number needed to treat was calculated between augmentation and nonsurgical management groups from years 1-5 following a vertebral compression fracture diagnosis, using survival probabilities for each management approach.
resultsThe adjusted number needed to treat to save 1 life for nonsurgical management versus kyphoplasty ranged from 14.8 at year 1 to 11.9 at year 5. The adjusted number needed to treat for nonsurgical management versus vertebroplasty ranged from 22.8 at year 1 to 23.8 at year 5.
conclusionsBoth augmentation modalities conferred a prominent mortality benefit over nonsurgical management in this analysis of the US Medicare registry, with a low number needed to treat. The calculations based on this data base resulted in a low number needed to treat to save 1 life at 1 year and at 5 years.
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.