Pain physician
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Review Meta Analysis
A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of unilateral versus bilateral kyphoplasty for osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures.
Kyphoplasty reduces the pain caused by osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture (OVCF). Although the procedure is typically carried out using a bilateral approach, it is now increasingly performed using a unilateral approach because of the concern for long-term adverse effects. However, little evidence is available to demonstrate superior safety of the unilateral approach. ⋯ Both unilateral and bilateral kyphoplasty are effective in alleviating the back pain caused by OVCF. Two approaches have the same degree of safety. More RCTs are needed to examine the efficacy and adverse reactions of the 2 approaches.
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The utilization of spinal interventional pain techniques has grown rapidly over the last decade. However, practitioners use widely different techniques in these procedures, particularly in the use of image guidance. The importance of image guidance was highlighted by the fact that in recent systematic reviews on therapeutic effectiveness of epidural steroid injections and facet joint interventions, only studies that used image guidance were included. ⋯ The goals of this narrative review are to provide a basic overview of CT techniques available for spinal interventional pain procedures, to discuss the potential advantages and disadvantages of CT guidance, to provide a simple step-by-step approach to use of CT guidance, to share technical pearls, and to discuss methods to avoid potential pitfalls. This review will provide interventional pain physicians with knowledge of relevant CT image acquisition techniques and appropriate radiation dose reduction strategies. This will contribute to increased technical success rates while reducing radiation dose to the patient and staff.