Percutaneous Cement Discoplasty in Degenerative Spinal Disease: Systematic Review of Indications, Clinical Outcomes, and Complications

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous cement discoplasty (PCD) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that can provide a segmental stabilizing and indi-rect decompression effect in the case of severely degenerated discs charac-terized by vacuum phenomenon. This systematic review aims to analyze the available literature relating to correct indications and clinical and radiologic efficacy of PCD in patients affected by advanced degenerative spine conditions. METHODS: The search was conducted according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) guideline. Comprehensive research of PubMed, Scopus, and OVID databases was made using the following Mesh terms: ((cement) AND (discoplasty) AND ((vertebral) OR (spinal) OR (spine))). Modal distribution was used to assess the most frequent levels of PCD per patient. Quality assessment of each article was performed according to the Oxford Level of Evidence, Methodological Index for Non -Randomized studies, and Risk of Bias in Non-Randomized Studies score by 2 authors. RESULTS: After the databases search, 5 full-text articles were included in the systematic review for a total of 291 patients (218 females and 73 males). Median PCD levels were 2.2. Despite promising clinical results, the methodologic index showed poor Methodological Index for Non-Randomized and Risk of Bias in Non-Randomized Studies scores.CONCLUSIONS: PCD provides good clinical results in elderly patients, especially for pain relief. However, the current literature is poor and the article included in the systematic review showed a poor methodologic score, which could affect the conclusions.