Spine procedure · Collin County, Texas
Kyphoplasty in Collin County, Texas
A minimally invasive procedure for selected painful vertebral compression fractures — stabilizing the fracture from within.
Kyphoplasty in Collin County
Your nearest clinic
7217 Telecom PkwySuite 325
Garland, TX 75044
Office hours: Mon–Fri · 8:00am–5:00pm
Book a visit
Call (972) 817-7450 to book an initial consultation or second opinion at the Garland clinic — south on the President George Bush Turnpike from Plano and Richardson, or by way of I-635 from Frisco, McKinney, and Allen.
Request consultationOther clinics: Rockwall · Forney · Greenville
What it is
Kyphoplasty is performed through a small working channel placed into the fractured vertebra. A small balloon creates space within the compressed bone, then medical bone cement is placed to stabilize the fracture. There is no open incision and no spinal instrumentation.
The procedure is designed for fractures that are painful and mechanically unstable, not for chronic healed fractures that no longer drive symptoms.
When it may be considered
Kyphoplasty is reserved for selected painful vertebral compression fractures. The age and type of fracture, the pain pattern, bone health, and other possible causes of the pain are all assessed before considering the procedure. Most stable fractures begin with pain control, protected activity, early safe mobility, and bone-health treatment.
What to discuss at consultation
- Goals: stabilize a painful, active fracture and improve the ability to move comfortably.
- Alternatives: nonoperative fracture care and osteoporosis treatment — the first step for most fractures.
- Recovery: typically brief; many patients resume activity quickly once the immediate soreness settles.
- Risks: cement leakage, incomplete pain relief, adjacent fractures in weakened bone, and the individual risks of the procedure.
Who is a good candidate
Candidacy here is deliberately narrow — and that is the most important thing on this page:
- A recent, active vertebral compression fracture with mechanical back pain that clearly comes from the fracture
- Pain that has not settled with initial nonoperative care over the first weeks
- Imaging confirming the fracture is acute (bone edema on MRI) rather than old and healed
Most compression fractures heal with time, and most people do not need kyphoplasty. Chronic, healed fractures that no longer drive symptoms are not treated with this procedure. A fragility fracture means osteoporosis by definition — and the bone-health treatment that follows is more important than any procedure.
What recovery actually looks like
Day 1–3. Kyphoplasty is typically an outpatient procedure. Many patients notice the mechanical fracture pain easing quickly once the immediate procedural soreness settles. Walking and normal movement resume right away — early safe mobility is encouraged.
Week 1–2. Activity as tolerated. The focus shifts to what actually changes the future: bone-health evaluation and treatment.
Weeks 4–6. The fracture continues healing. This is when the osteoporosis plan — the appropriate medication, managed by a primary care physician or bone specialist — should be underway.
3 months. The fracture itself is typically healed. Long-term, the most important and only proven treatment to prevent the next fracture is ongoing bone-health treatment, not the procedure.
Risks and how they are minimized
The known risks include cement leakage outside the vertebra (usually without consequence, occasionally symptomatic), incomplete pain relief — particularly if the pain was not truly coming from the fracture — and new fractures in adjacent weakened vertebrae, since the underlying osteoporosis remains.
The single biggest risk reducer is selection: offering kyphoplasty only for acute, painful fractures where the fracture is clearly the pain source. The procedure itself is done under continuous fluoroscopic (X-ray) guidance with small, controlled cement volumes.
Alternatives considered first
For most compression fractures, the first treatment is not a procedure at all: pain control, protected activity, early safe mobility, and — most importantly — bone-health treatment. Because a fragility fracture means osteoporosis by definition, the appropriate bone-strengthening agent, managed by a PCP or specialist, is the most important and only proven treatment to change outcomes and prevent future fractures. Kyphoplasty is reserved for the selected painful fractures that do not settle. More on the condition: compression fracture.
Frequently asked questions
Do most compression fractures need kyphoplasty?
No. Most vertebral compression fractures heal with time, and most people do not need kyphoplasty. It is reserved for selected acute, painful fractures that have not settled with initial nonoperative care.
If I had a fragility fracture, do I have osteoporosis?
By definition, yes. A fracture from low-energy trauma means the bone is osteoporotic, and bone-health treatment — the appropriate agent managed by a PCP or specialist — is the most important and only proven treatment to prevent future fractures.
How quickly does kyphoplasty relieve pain?
Many patients notice the mechanical fracture pain easing quickly once the immediate procedural soreness settles, often within days. It is typically an outpatient procedure.
Show all questionsShow fewer questions7 more ▾
What happens after kyphoplasty?
Early safe mobility resumes right away. The longer-term priority is the osteoporosis plan — evaluation and treatment to strengthen bone and prevent the next fracture, which matters more than the procedure itself.
What is kyphoplasty and how does it work?
Working through a small incision in the back, the surgeon guides a narrow tube into the fractured vertebra under X-ray guidance. A tiny balloon — a tamp — is inflated inside the bone, gently lifting the collapsed segment toward its original height and creating a cavity. The balloon comes out, and thick bone cement is delivered into that space, where it hardens within minutes. The cement stabilizes the fracture's internal movement, which is the source of the sharp, mechanical pain these fractures produce when you stand, roll, or bend.
Who is a good candidate for kyphoplasty?
Candidacy turns on timing and on agreement between three things: your pain, your examination, and your imaging. Good candidates hurt at the level of a recent fracture — usually within the first several weeks — with tenderness directly over that vertebra, and an MRI showing the fracture is still active rather than healed. Fractures that have already united, pain that maps to a different level, and fractures threatening the spinal cord are poor fits. Age alone settles nothing; the fracture's behavior settles it.
What is the difference between kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty?
The two procedures share a goal — cement inside a fractured vertebra — and differ in one step. In vertebroplasty, cement is injected directly into the collapsed bone under pressure. Kyphoplasty first inflates a balloon inside the vertebra, which can restore some lost height and compacts the surrounding bone into a defined cavity; the cement then fills that cavity at lower pressure. That control is one reason kyphoplasty is often selected when height loss is significant or the fracture pattern makes containment of the cement a particular concern.
How long does kyphoplasty take?
For a single level, the procedure itself usually takes well under an hour, performed with sedation or general anesthesia depending on your health and the number of fractures being treated. Most patients go home the same day, once they are awake, comfortable, and walking steadily. Expect some soreness at the incision site for a few days, distinct from the deeper fracture pain. There are no meaningful activity restrictions afterward beyond listening to your back — ordinary movement is encouraged from the first day.
What are the risks of kyphoplasty?
Cement leakage is the concern patients raise first, so it deserves a direct answer: a small amount escaping the vertebra is not uncommon and usually causes no symptoms, because it is seen on imaging and accounted for during the procedure. Leakage toward the canal or a nerve is uncommon and can irritate or compress those structures. Other risks include infection, bleeding, a reaction to anesthesia, and — in weakened bone generally — a later fracture at a neighboring level. None of this makes the procedure reckless; it makes case selection and technique matter.
How can I prevent another compression fracture after kyphoplasty?
Start with the bone itself. A fragility fracture establishes osteoporosis, and prescription bone-strengthening treatment — chosen and monitored by your primary care doctor or a bone specialist — lowers the risk of the next fracture in a way no procedure can. Around that foundation: adequate calcium and vitamin D as your doctor advises, weight-bearing activity and balance work to reduce falls, a home checked for trip hazards and poor lighting, and no smoking. Follow-up bone-density testing confirms whether the plan is working. Cement repaired one vertebra; this program protects the rest.
Care pathway
Compression fractureDr. Jihoon ChoiRockwall · Garland · Forney · Greenville
Initial consultation or second opinion?
If a compression fracture still hurts after conservative care, bring your imaging and your questions. Dr. Choi will review your fracture pattern and tell you plainly whether kyphoplasty is worth considering — most fractures heal without it — plus what your bones need going forward, since a fragility fracture means the underlying bone needs attention too.