Biomedical Evaluation of Polymerized Biodegradable Cement vs. PMMA Cement in Kyphoplasty for Vertebral Compressive Fractures

Kyphoplasty/vertebroplasty procedures traditionally use PMMA to treat the fractured vertebrae due to its mechanical properties. However, with time the bone erodes around the cement due to osteoporosis and inhibited bone remodeling due to the cyotoxicity of PMMA (1). The exothermic reaction of PMMA is also responsible for thermal necrosis and can cause complications in cases of extravasation (1; 2; 3). Lastly, PMMA is not bioactive and will not be reabsorbed (1; 2; 3). Thus, alternative cements with similar mechanical strengths are being explored. Calcium phosphate cements (CaP) have been explored due to their bioactive and non-thermal properties (3; 4). Despite these advantages, there are reservations of traditional CaP cements due to deficiencies in mechanical properties (1; 4). We evaluated new polymerized calcium phosphate (pCaP) cement which is not brittle like traditional CaP cements. Mechanical properties of vertebral bodies augmented with either PMMA or pCaP after fracture were determined.