Vertebroplasty, a surgery in which cement is injected to fill spinal cracks caused by osteoporosis, is performed 80,000 times a year in the U.S. to relieve patients' back pain.By Thomas H. Maugh II
LA Times
August 6, 2009
A widely used surgical procedure in which cement is used to fortify cracks in the spine is no better than a sham operation, two groups of researchers independently reported Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The findings shocked clinicians because the procedure, first introduced in the early 1990s, is now widely accepted and assumed to be very effective at relieving pain and improving mobility. About 80,000 such procedures, called vertebroplasties, are performed in the United States each year, primarily in the elderly. The total has doubled in the last six years.
The spinal cracks typically are a result of thinning of the bones caused by osteoporosis. The operation typically costs as much as $3,000, although Medicare pays only about two-thirds that amount.
2 comments:
A liberal is arrogant enough to think he can do you a half-assed favor. He is superior enough to think he can give you something that you don't deserve. A liberal will cut off your leg so he can hand you a crutch.
Read more: http://www.esquire.com/features/what-ive-learned/jim-brown-quotes-0109#ixzz0NR1XqvP7
If the procedure is a fake than how do you explain this quote from a woman who got the Placebo and later a Vertebroplasty:
"This year, when she had a second vertebral fracture, she went back to get the real thing. Her pain went away within 10 days. "For me it was better, because within 10 days to two weeks my pain was considerably relieved. I would go back for another one," she says."
Taken from:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/05/vertebroplasty-healthcare-reform-business-healthcare-backpain.html
For More: http://bit.ly/10XT2Q
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