Enhancing precision in percutaneous vertebroplasty: a study on patient-specific 3D-printed guides for osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures

Description

Jia-Wen Liang and colleagues evaluate patient-specific 3D-printed guides for vertebroplasty in a 2026 retrospective study. Vertebroplasty injects bone cement into fractured vertebrae, a common treatment for osteoporosis-related spinal fractures. Success hinges on threading the needle through the narrow pedicle accurately, traditionally under repeated X-ray guidance.

The study reviewed 106 patients treated at a Yan'an University hospital between 2020 and 2022, fifty-two with printed guides and fifty-four with the conventional freehand method. The guide group finished operations and punctures faster and needed fewer X-ray checks during surgery. Cement leaked less often, and complications including nerve root injury, cement displacement, and needle paths breaching the pedicle wall were all rarer with guides. Pain and disability scores were tracked with standard scales for both groups. The authors conclude that a guide printed from the patient's own scans makes this one-sided approach to the spine safer and more precise.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13253431