Vice Chairman & Head - Ortho Spine, MIS & Robotic Spine Surgery, BLK-Max Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi
Part 7 of 18 in Spinal Surgery: Advances in Techniques & Technology for Excellent Patient Outcomes
Kyphoplasty for Osteoporotic Spinal Fractures: A Same-Day Procedure
August 5, 2026
Kyphoplasty treats painful osteoporotic spinal fractures by inflating a balloon inside the collapsed vertebra under local anaesthesia and then filling the space with bone cement, giving around 99 percent pain relief and allowing patients to go home the same day. It is one of the fastest procedures available for fracture-related back pain.
Who develops osteoporotic spinal fractures
Postmenopausal women have a particularly high tendency toward osteoporosis and often present with weeks of back pain that has not responded to regular painkillers, physiotherapy or massage. An X-ray typically shows a collapsed vertebra even though the patient has not fallen or had any accident, the bone having given way from a minor jerk, or sometimes no identifiable trauma at all, because it has become too weak from osteoporosis.
How kyphoplasty is performed
A needle is used to insert a balloon into the fractured vertebra under local anaesthesia, with the patient awake throughout the procedure since no general anaesthesia is required. The balloon lifts the collapsed vertebra back toward its normal height, and bone cement is then injected to fill and stabilise the space, setting within a few minutes.
Why kyphoplasty is fast and low-risk
Because no general anaesthesia is used, patients can go home the same evening. The procedure gives immediate relief of around 99 percent of pain, and a bone biopsy can be taken during the same procedure to rule out the small chance that the fracture is caused by a tumour rather than osteoporosis. Kyphoplasty is described as one of the fastest procedures for pain relief from a spinal fracture available in spine surgery today.
← Prolonged Sitting and Disc Degeneration: Why Desk Jobs Are a Spine Risk | Series index | Cervical Disc Replacement: Treating Neck Disc Herniation While Preserving Motion →
This article is based on a Jivo Masterclass session conducted by Dr. Puneet Girdhar, Chairman, Max Institute of Robotics and Minimal Invasive Spine Surgery, BLK-Max Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi. The article has been summarised with the assistance of an AI tool from the original masterclass recording. Watch the full Masterclass recording
This guide is based on a live Jivo Masterclass — Dr. Puneet Girdhar taught doctors across Africa on August 10, 2025.
FROM THE LIVE Q&A
Dr. Frank, referring physician, Ghana
I wanted to share how Paulina has been doing since her surgery with you — honestly speaking, I was really impressed by her recovery time. She's come back to Ghana and she's always praising your team, and now I have even more patients lining up who also want to come and have a consultation, and possibly the surgery, after hearing about her experience.
Dr. Puneet Girdhar
We feel privileged to be treating your patient, and I hope we have done justice to you, your practice and of course the patient. I think at the end of the day we all have one common goal — we want to see our patients happy. Otherwise you, me and Jivo would not be here on a Sunday evening, leaving our families aside, if we did not have this goal.
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Frequently Asked Questions
I'm also trying to go into orthopedic surgery myself, and I'm really happy learning more about it and seeing the advances in the surgery you're doing. Out of curiosity — how many of your own fellows go on to specialize in spine surgery after training under you?▼
I always joke about this with my orthopedic fellows. I've had an orthopedic training program for the last 13 or 14 years, and not even one of them has opted for spine surgery as a career — they're very happy doing a knee replacement, arthroscopy, or a fracture nail instead. Spine surgery has evolved so much that the moment they look into the scope, everything is very tiny, and that can be discouraging — it looks very uphill. It takes a little while to enter the system and understand what's going on through keyholes; one has to be patient, because it has a steep learning curve and the margin of error is not there. So for the last four years I've run a dedicated fellowship national training program for spine fellows — once they're selected and come to me, they don't have the option to go to any other theatre, because they're now committed to spine surgery for the rest of their life.
I wanted to share how Paulina has been doing since her surgery with you — honestly speaking, I was really impressed by her recovery time. She's come back to Ghana and she's always praising your team, and now I have even more patients lining up who also want to come and have a consultation, and possibly the surgery, after hearing about her experience.▼
We feel privileged to be treating your patient, and I hope we have done justice to you, your practice and of course the patient. I think at the end of the day we all have one common goal — we want to see our patients happy. Otherwise you, me and Jivo would not be here on a Sunday evening, leaving our families aside, if we did not have this goal.
What is kyphoplasty?▼
It is a procedure that treats painful osteoporotic spinal fractures by inflating a balloon inside the collapsed vertebra under local anaesthesia and then filling the space with bone cement.
Who typically needs kyphoplasty?▼
Postmenopausal women, who have a particularly high tendency toward osteoporosis, often present with weeks of back pain that has not responded to painkillers, physiotherapy or massage, with an X-ray showing a collapsed vertebra even though they have not fallen or had any accident.
Is general anaesthesia required for kyphoplasty?▼
No. The patient is awake throughout the procedure under local anaesthesia only, which is why they can go home the same evening.
How much pain relief does kyphoplasty provide?▼
It gives immediate relief of around 99 percent of pain.
Can kyphoplasty help detect other causes of a spinal fracture?▼
Yes. A bone biopsy can be taken during the same procedure to rule out the small chance that the fracture is caused by a tumour rather than osteoporosis.
In This Series: Spinal Surgery: Advances in Techniques & Technology for Excellent Patient Outcomes
- 1.Advances in Spinal Surgery
- 2.Biportal Endoscopic Spine Surgery: What It Is and How It Works
- 3.Cervical Disc Replacement: Treating Neck Disc Herniation While Preserving Motion
- 4.Growth Rods for Early-Onset Scoliosis in Young Children
- 5.Hemivertebra: Why Early Surgery Prevents Severe Spinal Deformity
- 6.Herniated Disc Surgery: Biportal Endoscopic Discectomy Explained
- 7.Kyphoplasty for Osteoporotic Spinal Fractures: A Same-Day Procedure
- 8.Lumbar Canal Stenosis: Symptoms and Modern Minimally Invasive Treatment
- 9.Minimally Invasive Spinal Fusion: Treating Spinal Instability Without Open Surgery
- 10.Minimally Invasive vs Open Spine Surgery: How Techniques Have Evolved
- 11.Navigation and Robotics in Spine Surgery: Why They Improve Accuracy and Safety
- 12.Prolonged Sitting and Disc Degeneration: Why Desk Jobs Are a Spine Risk
- 13.Recovery After Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery: What Patients Can Expect
- 14.Robotic Spine Surgery for Complex and Revision Cases
- 15.Scoliosis and Kyphosis in Children: Types and Warning Signs
- 16.Scoliosis Treatment: When Observation, Bracing or Surgery Is Needed
- 17.Vertebral Column Resection: Correcting Severe Spinal Deformity From Neglected Tuberculosis
- 18.When to See a Spine Specialist: Warning Signs You Shouldn't Ignore