Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty
When a weak bone in your spine cracks and squashes down, it can cause severe back pain. The doctor fills the broken bone with medical bone cement through a hollow needle in your back, with no surgical cut and no stitches.
The short version
- Osteoporosis can make a bone in your spine so weak that it cracks and squashes down, which causes sudden back pain.
- In vertebroplasty, the doctor puts a hollow needle through a tiny nick in your back and fills the broken bone with bone cement.
- Kyphoplasty adds one step first: a small balloon makes a space inside the bone, and then the space is filled with cement.
- The cement sets hard within about 20 minutes. Many people go home the same day and feel less pain within days, but it does not help everyone.
When to get help
- Sudden trouble breathing
- Chest pain
- New weakness in your legs
- You cannot control your bladder or bowels
- Bleeding from the needle site that does not stop with firm pressure
- A fever
- Swelling or a change in skin colour where the needle went in
- Back pain that is getting worse instead of better
- New numbness or tingling
IR team phone: added by the hospital before launch After hours, or if you can’t reach them: go to the nearest emergency department.
Not sure? Call HealthLink BC at 8-1-1, any time, day or night. Health questions that are not urgent, such as soreness, your bandage or your medicines, if you cannot reach the IR team
See it step by step on a 3D model
Open the full guide to see the procedure step by step, what to expect before and after, and questions to ask your doctor.
Web address: added before launch
General information, not medical advice. Your care team knows your situation and makes decisions with you.
Pathway P-003 · Vertebroplasty handout · Version 0.5 · 14 October 2026 · Draft