Spinal injuries - osteoporosis fractures are one form of this

Our senior surgeons have extensive experience in the treatment of all spinal injuries thanks to their many years of working at trauma centres. However, spinal injuries resulting from car or bicycle accidents or falls from a great height must be admitted to and clarified at the University Hospital Basel, as concomitant injuries (internal haemorrhages or extremity injuries) may be present that are not part of the treatment offered at Bethesda Hospital.

In the case of injuries that occurred some time ago and are not quite as serious, as well as osteoporosis fractures, we will be happy to provide you with an assessment during consultation hours. Of course, our emergency ward is also available to you at any time for such cases by referral from your general practitioner's consultation.

Osteoporosis fractures can usually be treated without surgery. The initial severe pain gradually subsides. However, there are also cases in which the vertebra continues to collapse and misalignments or instabilities develop over the course of weeks. It can also happen that the fracture does not heal properly (so-called pseudarthrosis).

If such cases are recognised at an early stage, a small, minimally invasive procedure is often sufficient to prevent further deterioration and effectively alleviate the pain. A simple cementing procedure, known as vertebroplasty, is then completely sufficient.

However, if you wait too long, this operation is no longer effective and major stabilisation is often necessary. It is therefore crucial that the non-surgical treatment of vertebral fractures is also accompanied or carried out by spinal surgery from the outset.

Anyone who breaks or fractures a vertebra feels severe pain: the level of suffering can be very high, especially after accidents, and should be alleviated as quickly as possible by a specialised examination. Older people who suffer from osteoporosis can also fracture their spine after a clumsy movement. In certain cases, the fractures can also manifest themselves as paralyses in the limbs.

Rapid imaging is very important in the event of pain or injury in the spinal region. This ensures that a potentially unstable injury after an accident is not overlooked. Standard procedures include X-rays, but above all computerised tomography (CT) and occasionally also MRI.

A whiplash injury is diagnosed on the basis of the accident and the characteristic symptoms. X-rays or an MRI examination are usually performed to rule out visible injuries to the cervical spine.