Gradual recovery for vertebral augmentation and vertebroplasty devices

LONDON – Not all press is good press, as reputation is everything in the medical devices market – as shown by the slow recovery of vertebral augmentation and vertebroplasty procedures as an accepted treatment of spinal problems in a new report by healthcare experts GlobalData.

The new report* studies the adverse impact on professional opinion caused by two academic studies and depicts the risk that healthcare products face as a result of constant developments and investigations in the field.

Vertebral Compression Fractures (VCFs) can be treated using vertebral augmentation devices, also known as balloon kyphoplasty devices, and vertebroplasty devices. Both offer non-surgical treatment in outpatient settings, when conventional therapies such as rest, back bracing or drug-based therapies have not been effective, before physicians resort to invasive and expensive operations.

However, in August 2009, two studies were published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) questioning the benefits provided by vertebroplasty and vertebral augmentation procedures. These studies led physicians to favour alternative treatment options for VCFs, and prompted the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) to strongly recommend against the use of vertebroplasty for VCF treatment. This in turn led some private insurers in the US to roll back their coverage policies for these procedures. The availability of reimbursements for vertebral augmentation procedures dramatically affects this medical market, as vertebral augmentation and vertebroplasty procedures are comparatively expensive to undertake.

These events crippled growth in the kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty market during 2009 and 2010, but the markets are now recovering from this damage. Growing doubts among physicians and specialists concerning the sample patient population considered by the two studies led to a number of new studies being published, which supported vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures. Consequent recommendations from organizations such as the International Osteoporosis Foundation and Society of Interventional Radiology for the treatments helped in alleviating the bad press which kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty procedures had been given, and the market has shown a gradual recovery from 2010 onwards.