Background: Vertebroplasty is an effective treatment for osteoporotic vertebral fractures,
which are one of the most common fractures associated with osteoporosis. However, clinical
observation has shown that the risk of adjacent vertebral body fractures may increase after
vertebroplasty. The mechanism underlying adjacent vertebral body fracture after vertebroplasty
is not clear; excessive stiffness resulting from polymethyl methacrylate has been suspected as
an important mechanism.
Objectives: The aim of our study was to compare the effects of bone cement stiffness on
adjacent vertebrae after osteoporotic vertebroplasty under load-controlled versus displacementcontrolled conditions.
Study Design: An experimental computer study using a finite element analysis.
Setting: Medical research institute, university hospital, Korea.
Methods: A three-dimensional digital anatomic model of L1/2 bone structure was reconstructed
from human computed tomographic images. The reconstructed three-dimensional geometry
was processed for finite element analysis such as meshing elements and applying material
properties. Two boundary conditions, load-controlled and displacement-controlled methods,
were applied to each of 5 deformation modes: compression, flexion, extension, lateral bending,
and torsion.
Results: The adjacent L1 vertebra, irrespective of augmentation, revealed nearly similar
maximum von Mises stresses under the load-controlled condition. However, for the displacementcontrolled condition, the maximum von Mises stresses in the cortical bone and inferior endplate
of the adjacent L1 vertebra increased significantly after cement augmentation. This increase was
more significant than that with stiffer bone cement under all modes, except the torsion mode.
Limitations: The finite element model was simplified, excluding muscular forces and
incorporating a large volume of bone cement, to more clearly demonstrate effects of bone
cement stiffness on adjacent vertebrae after vertebroplasty.
Conclusion: Excessive stiffness of augmented bone cement increases the risk of adjacent
vertebral fractures after vertebroplasty in an osteoporotic finite element model. This result was
most prominently observed using the displacement-controlled method.
Key words: Bone cements, displacement-controlled method, finite element analysis, loadcontrolled method, osteoporosis, osteoporotic fracture, polymethyl methacrylate, vertebroplasty