How a medical balloon treats spinal fractures

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Fresno woman spent two months with back pain.

"I fell on Valentine's night going into a restaurant," said Diana Rambo.

She struggled to find relief, and pushed through the pain to get her daily tasks done.

"The pain radiated from my back, around under my ribs, and around to the front," Rambo said. "I just didn't know what was wrong, but I knew I was in a lot of pain."

In late March, an X-ray showed her vertebra was fractured. She was then sent to Dr. Benjamin Pruett with ForeFront Radiology.

"I knew the minute I talked to them that this was going to be the solution," said Rambo.

"For us to find out if something's acute or a fresh fracture, we have to do an MRI or bone scan," said Dr. Pruett. "The MRI showed that this was a fracture that's eligible for treatment with Kyphoplasty."

With no hesitation, Diana agreed to undergo a Kyphoplasty procedure.

"The Kyphoplaster uses a balloon to create a space inside the bone, so we can put bone cement to harden the bone," Dr. Pruett explained.

Kyphoplasty is a minimally invasive procedure that doesn't take long, and reduces the patient's pain significantly and quickly.

Diana has been pain-free ever since.

"I don't think I could have stood another two weeks from that pain," she said.

While there are other procedures for a fractured vertebra, Dr. Pruett said Kyphoplasty gets patients back to a normal life in less than half the amount of time.