BACKGROUND:Percutaneous vertebroplasty with bone cement plus hyperextension position reset for acute thoracolumbar vertebral osteoporotic compression fractures has been reported to achieve good clinical efficacy.OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the efficacy of unilateral percutaneous vertebroplasty with bone cement plus hyperextension position reset for Kümmell disease in the elderly.METHODS:Twenty-two old patients with Kümmell disease were included,involving 8 males and 14 females,aged 55-84 years old,and the injuried vertebrae included T11 (n=2),T12 (n=8),L1 (n=7),L2 (n=4),L3 (n=2),L4 (n=2),and L5 (n=1).All patients underwent the unilateral percutaneous vertebroplasty with bone cement plus hyperextension position reset.The visual analogue scale and the Oswestry Disability Index scores,vertebral body height as well as vertebral kyphosis angle were determined before and after treatment.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1) All patients were successfully operated,pain relieved or disappeared within 24 hours postoperatively.No spinal cord injury,pulmonary embolism and other complications were found.One patient presented with cement leakage without obvious clinical symptoms;two patients had non-adjacent vertebral fractures during follow-up.(2) The visual analogue scale and Oswestry Disability Index scores at 1 day postoperatively were significantly lower than those at baseline (P ＜ 0.05).(3) The anterior,medial and posterior height of involved vertebral body,kyphotic angle of involved vertebral body at 1 day postoperatively were significantly higher than those at baseline (P ＜ 0.05).(4) These results manifest that unilateral percutaneous vertebropiasty with bone cement plus hyperextension position reset to treat Kümmell disease in the elderly can significantly relieve back pain,restore partial vertebral height,correct local kyphosis and improve functional recovery of the injured vertebrae.