Your Healthcare Team Spinal Fractures

Overview

If you have been diagnosed with a spinal fracture and have elected to undergo balloon kyphoplasty, you will likely be seen by a primary care doctor/medical internist, who will, in turn, refer you to a spine specialist for the procedure. Although the process of being treated by several different doctors may seem daunting, in reality, it’s relatively simple.

Diagnosis of your spinal fracture is usually made by your primary care doctor. Your doctor will examine you and order imaging studies such as x-rays or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan to confirm the diagnosis. Once a diagnosis of spinal fracture has been confirmed, you will be referred to a surgeon or interventionalist who has undergone advanced training to repair broken bones in the spine.

After the broken bone is repaired, you will be referred back to your primary care doctor for treatment of the condition that caused your bone to break.

Doctors who treat patients with osteoporosis (general practitioners, rheumatologists, endocrinologists, physiotherapists, physical medicine practitioners, gynecologists, and geriatricians) or cancer can refer spinal fracture patients to a surgeon or interventionalist trained to do the procedure.

Generally, doctors performing Kyphon^® Balloon Kyphoplasty first attend a special training course taught by doctors who have extensive experience with the procedure. Orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, interventional radiologists, interventional neuroradiologists, and pain-management specialists who specialize in treating the spine can perform balloon kyphoplasty.

For the benefit of patients, Medtronic maintains a list of doctors who are trained to perform Kyphon Balloon Kyphoplasty and who have indicated a willingness to accept patient referrals.

To date, more than 12,800 spine specialists worldwide have performed balloon kyphoplasty. More than 393,000 patients and 460,000 spinal fractures have been treated with Kyphon Balloon Kyphoplasty.