Referring Physicians

As a general practitioner, Ob-Gyn or gerontologist, you most likely treat patients who have Osteoporosis. Often, patients with advanced osteoporosis suffer from painful vertebral fractures. Many studies indicate that a fraction of vertebral fractures are clinically recognized.⁽¹⁾ This is thought to be only a fraction due to both the absence of symptoms and to the difficulty in determining the cause of symptoms.⁽²⁾ Often, the first clue to vertebral compression fractures is acute onset of severe back pain and functional limitation due to back pain. So while these fractures are common in post-menopausal women, they are often not identified clinically. Therefore, it is important to become aware of the onset of vertebral compression fractures in order to provide diagnosis and appropriate treatment quickly before the condition progresses.

Diagnosis Tools

Radiographs have long been the accepted method for identifying vertebral compression fractures, but are rarely used in osteoporosis assessment for a variety of practical reasons, including cost, radiation dose, and the lack of office-based radiological facilities. Consequently, vertebral assessment has not typically been performed in the clinical evaluation of patients at risk for osteoporosis. The recent use of high-resolution lateral spine images from a fan-beam Dual X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) system, may provide a practical, low-radiation dose, point-of-care methodology for vertebral fracture assessment. The technology provides lateral spine images that allow visual identification of most fractures. Prevalent and incident radiographic vertebral fractures can be further assessed by quantitative morphometry.⁽⁴⁾

Partnering with a provider

Now you can help create awareness with your patients about the latest in treatment options for vertebral compression fractures. You can locate a physician trained in vertebroplasty and contact them directly or if you prefer we can provide you with additional information to help grow awareness of this procedure through your practice. We offer resources directly for referring physicians to help generate awareness within the community and their patients for Vertebroplasty including:

• Patient Education materials including brochures and plexi glass holders
• General PowerPoint presentation focused on Osteoporosis and Vertebroplasty
• Clinical presentation on Vertebroplasty

Learn more about how beneficial a partnership can be. For more information please contact us at 408-735-6256.

⁽¹⁾ Ross, P., Davis, J., Epstein, R., and Wasnich, R. "Pre-existing Fractures and Bone Mass Predict Vertebral Fracture Incidence in Women". Annals of Internal Medicine 114:919-923; 1991

⁽²⁾ Silverman, S. The Clinical Consequences of Vertebral Compression Fracture. Bone 13:S27-31; 1992

⁽³⁾ Harry K. Genant, M.D., Jiao Li, M.D., Chun Y. Wu, M.D., John A. Shepherd, Ph.D.: "Vertebral Fractures in Osteoporosis: A New Method for Clinical Assessment," J Clin Densitom 3(3):281-90; 1999

⁽⁴⁾ Nevitt, M., Ettinger, B., Black, D., Stone, K., Jamal, S., Ensrud, K., Segal, M., Genant, H., and Cummings, S., "The Association of Radiographically Detected Vertebral Fractures with Back Pain and Function: A Prospective Study," Ann. Int. Med. 129:793-800; 1998