The Short-Term Changes of the Sagittal Spinal Alignments After Acute Vertebral Compression Fracture Receiving Vertebroplasty and Their Relationship With the Change of Bathel Index in the Elderly

INTRODUCTION: Fragility vertebral compression fractures (VCFs) are of major concern due to aging populations worldwide, which may occur after a fall from standing or due to severe osteoporosis, impacting greatly the life quality of the elderly. This study thus determined the factors independently associated with poor functional recovery from a new VCF and changes in sagittal spinal alignment after vertebroplasty in elderly patients with osteoporosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data were collected from patients older than 70 years and diagnosed with a new VCF. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine factors independently associated with function and radiographic status. RESULTS: We enrolled 8 male and 34 female patients with a mean age of 80.74 ± 8.31 years between January and July 2020. Compared with preoperative data, post-vertebroplasty lumbar sagittal alignments and functional scores improved significantly, and function recovered gradually over 12 weeks. Climbing stairs was the most influential performance indicator at the beginning of the recovery process. At each postoperative follow-up, changes in the C7-sacrum sagittal vertical axis exhibited an influence on functional recovery. Male patients were better able to move from a chair to a bed at the 2-week postoperative follow-up, and positive changes in the spino-sacral angle led to improved function in terms of stair climbing at the 6-week postoperative follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Vertebroplasty seemed to be effective for functional recovery related to sagittal spinal alignment improvement of the elderly with VCFs during postoperative 12 weeks, which may be a critical stage for the recovery for their life activities. The recovery rate for stair climbing after vertebroplasty was slower than for the other functional performance indicators in our study. In addition, if a patient was unable to demonstrate a marked improvement in sagittal alignment, they were likely to have ongoing impaired function and a poor prognosis after surgery.