See How the Repair Works
Pick a fracture pattern, then step through a vertebroplasty or a balloon kyphoplasty to see how bone cement stabilizes the vertebra — and why only kyphoplasty can restore some lost height. This is educational, not a diagnosis.
How Balloon Kyphoplasty Works, Step by Step
This walks through a typical balloon kyphoplasty: lifting the collapsed bone and filling it with cement. It follows the procedure selected in the simulator above. Select each step to learn what happens and why.
Vertebroplasty vs. Kyphoplasty
Both inject bone cement to splint a painful fracture through a needle in the pedicle. The difference is whether a balloon is used first to make a cavity and lift the bone. The best choice depends on your fracture and is decided with your surgeon.
| Feature | Vertebroplasty | Balloon Kyphoplasty |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Injects cement directly into the fractured bone | Inflates a balloon to make a cavity, then fills it with cement |
| Restores height? | Minimal | Can restore some lost height |
| Adds hardware? | No — cement only | No — cement only |
| Anesthesia | Local with sedation, or general | Local with sedation, or general |
| Cement leakage seen on imaging | More often (no contained cavity) | Less often (cement placed into a cavity); less leakage on a scan is not the same as fewer serious problems |
| Consideration | Vertebroplasty | Kyphoplasty |
|---|---|---|
| Painful fracture, little height loss | Well suited | Also suitable |
| Painful fracture with height loss | Stabilizes but will not lift | Preferred; can re-lift the bone |
| Very collapsed / hard to reach | Sometimes chosen | Cavity creation can help |
| Unstable or burst fracture | Not appropriate alone | Not appropriate alone |
| Factor | Vertebroplasty | Kyphoplasty |
|---|---|---|
| Hospital stay | Usually same day | Usually same day |
| Pain relief timing, in people who respond | Often within days | Often within days |
| Posture correction | None expected | Some, if done early |
| Next-level fracture risk | Present; treat the bone | Present; treat the bone |
Neither is universally better. For a painful fracture with meaningful height loss we often favor kyphoplasty; for a painful fracture with little collapse, either can work well. Both depend entirely on choosing the right fracture in the first place.