Patient records
Name: Maria Garcia
Age: 75
Nationality: Philippines (Manila)
Diagnosis: Severe osteoporosis, new compression fracture of L1 vertebra (Genant grade 3), accompanied by intractable pain.
Treatment Hospital: Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine — Department of Orthopedics/Spinal Surgery
Core technology: Percutaneous balloon dilatation kyphoplasty (PKP)
In the video sent by Grandma Maria, she is wearing a brightly colored traditional Filipino dress, slowly and gracefully swaying her arms to cheerful music in the courtyard of her Manila home. A long-lost, relaxed smile graces her face. In the video, she says, "Thank you for supporting my flattened spine, allowing me to enjoy dancing again." Just six months ago, however, she was confined to her bed, even turning over was a luxury.
Grandma Maria was a passionate Filipino folk dancer whose greatest joy after retirement was dancing with friends in the community. However, after a slight bend to lift something, a sharp, bone-chilling pain shot through her lower back, causing her to collapse instantly. Her family rushed her to the hospital, where the examination results were alarming: severe osteoporosis had caused a compression fracture of her L1 vertebra. On the X-ray, the vertebra looked like a flattened biscuit, with a loss of more than 40% of its height (Genant 3). In the Philippines, she received conservative treatment such as bed rest and strong painkillers, but the pain did not lessen at all. Even turning over became a luxury, let alone walking. The intense pain and prolonged bed rest caused her to weaken rapidly, and her mental state deteriorated, even showing signs of depression.
Maria's granddaughter, a nurse working in Manila, found us online. She couldn't bear to see her once vibrant grandmother confined to bed, gradually weakening. After carefully reviewing Maria's imaging data and bone density report, our case manager understood that for such an elderly patient with a severe fracture and unresponsive conservative treatment, time was of the essence. Prolonged bed rest would inevitably lead to a series of life-threatening complications, including hypostatic pneumonia, deep vein thrombosis in the lower extremities, and bedsores. We had to find a minimally invasive solution that could quickly relieve her pain and allow her to get out of bed and move around as soon as possible.
We focused our attention on the Department of Orthopedics at the Sixth People's Hospital affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine , whose spinal surgery department possesses world-class minimally invasive techniques for treating osteoporotic vertebral fractures in the elderly. We immediately arranged a remote consultation, transmitting Maria's lumbar spine MRI and CT images to the expert team at the Sixth People's Hospital. During the consultation, the experts clearly pointed out that the STIR sequence on the MRI showed significant edema in the fractured vertebra, indicating nonunion of the fracture, which was the root cause of her persistent severe pain. This made her an excellent candidate for percutaneous balloon kyphoplasty (PKP).
Before the consultation, our medical consultant explained the surgery to Maria using a vivid analogy: "The doctor will use a very fine needle to make a tiny 2-millimeter hole in your back and insert a special 'balloon' into the flattened vertebra. Then, like inflating a balloon, the collapsed vertebra will be expanded to restore its height. Finally, a heat-generating 'bone cement' will be injected to reinforce the fractured vertebra like steel bars. This surgery is minimally invasive, and the pain relief is immediate; many patients can get out of bed on the same day after the surgery." We also assisted in conducting a detailed bone density and fracture risk assessment for her, laying the foundation for subsequent treatment.
The surgery was performed under local anesthesia, and Maria remained conscious throughout. Guided by precise X-rays, the surgeon inserted a balloon into the fractured vertebra through a puncture point only 2 millimeters deep. As the balloon slowly expanded, the collapsed vertebra was gradually supported and restored to its normal height. Subsequently, under close imaging monitoring, the surgeon gently injected toothpaste-like bone cement into the vertebral cavity. The bone cement quickly solidified, reinforcing the fractured vertebra like steel bars. As soon as the surgery was over, Maria was overjoyed to find that the excruciating pain that had tormented her for weeks had miraculously disappeared.
Following her diagnosis, we developed a comprehensive long-term management plan for Maria, as advised by her doctor – this is the core value of our service. Besides guiding her gradual recovery, more importantly, we coordinated with endocrinologists to develop a systematic osteoporosis treatment plan for her, including calcium and vitamin D supplementation and the use of anti-resorption drugs to fundamentally prevent further fractures. After returning home, she regularly uploaded her medication records and activity status through our app. Our case manager regularly reminded her to have her bone density checked and provided fall prevention assessments and guidance for her home environment. Six months later, Maria sent us the video of her dancing. She said, "Thank you to the Chinese doctors for supporting my flattened spine, and thank you even more for teaching me how to protect it."