My father just had an operation called a vertebroplasty for a fractured vertebra. After the doctor explained this procedure, I wondered why they can’t put this cement in Dad’s other weak bones and prevent another fracture from happening. Can this be done?

Vertebroplasty is a way to strengthen a vertebral bone after it has fractured. The surgeon uses a special kind of X-ray imaging called fluoroscopy to guide a needle into the body of the vertebral bone. Cement is injected into the bone through the needle. It quickly hardens and reinforces the bone.

What you’re suggesting actually has a name: fracture prophylaxis using reinforcement. Prophylaxis is another word for prevention. Reinforcing weakened, brittle bones before injury is a fairly new idea.

Testing is at the conceptual stage. This means computer models are used to see what effect the injected cement would have on compression strength of bones. They are testing this with varying amounts of bone mineral density loss before injury occurs.

How much cement is needed is one question they are testing. At what point should a weakened bone be shored up with cement is another question to be answered. It would be very helpful if we could predict which patients are going to develop a vertebral compression fracture. The expense of prophylactic care for everyone isn’t practical.

More study is needed before this concept becomes a viable treatment option.