EAST FRANKLIN -- Jesse Toy, 82, of Manor Township knows that pushing that old car out of the garage a few years ago wasn't such a good idea.

"I felt my back snap," Toy said. "When the wrecker guy showed up and put a hook on the bumper, he said, 'See how easy that was -- you didn't have to do what you did to yourself.'

"I guess you mess up every now and then," Toy said. "No more pushing cars for me."

After fracturing vertebrae moving the antique 1960 Mercury so it could get worked on and running again, Toy was in too much pain to enjoy a ride in it.

Toy continued to suffer from severe back pain at times, so, he put his faith in a medical procedure called balloon kyphoplasty that uses cement and small balloons to repair his injured back and get him up and going.

He went to Dr. Randy Barrett, an anesthesiologist, pain specialist and director of anesthesiology at ACMH Hospital's Pain Clinic.

At ACMH Hospital, Barrett and Dr. Curt Conry, a neurosurgeon, have more than 100 times successfully performed the balloon kyphoplasty procedure, a minimally invasive treatment option for patients suffering from spinal fractures resulting from osteoporosis.

Balloon kyphoplasty is designed to correct spinal deformity resulting from osteoporosis fractures, significantly reducing back pain and improving a patient's ability to return to daily activities. The procedure repairs vertebrae compression fractures and restores the vertebrae to the correct position.

Today is National Osteoporosis Day. Osteoporosis is a disease that causes the bones of the spine to weaken and often collapse, resulting in spinal fractures.

In the United States, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, 700,000 patients each year suffer from spinal fractures caused by osteoporosis.

"Ninety percent of the time, immediately you're going to get 70 to 80 percent relief," Barrett said. "You take a patient who can't move. It's moving that bothers them with a spine fracture. When they go to sit up or get out of bed, they can't because of how much it hurts them. Stabilize it, and the pain goes away."

Barrett said he prefers the balloon kyphoplasty procedure because it's the safest and least invasive and because it restores the height of the vertebrae, which decreases deformity. Barrett previously used vertebroplasty, an early version of treatment that pumped air, but did not use a balloon, into the vertebrae and filled it with a liquid. That procedure did not restore the vertebrae to its normal height and allowed deformity such as the bent-over position in the elderly, he said.

Under X-ray, Barrett and Conry put needles in place which inflate the balloon to create an air cavity in the vertebrae and heighten it. They then pull the balloon out and inject a polymer cement. Balloon kyphoplasty is performed under both local and general anesthesia.

"Within 10 minutes, it's set up, and their pain is gone," Barrett said.

Patients generally spend one night in the hospital's recovery room and are ready to go home the next day.

"I was told to stay overnight," Toy said. "I said what for, I feel good. I could have easily gone home."

In most cases, Medicare provides coverage for balloon kyphoplasty. Other insurance companies may also cover it.

Patients should consult with their doctor for a discussion of the risks.

Barrett said balloon kyphoplasty is the most impressive of all the pain procedures done at the hospital's pain clinic as far as outcome results.

"There is a very profound amount of relief that these people are getting," Barrett said. "From a physicians standpoint, it's a very rewarding procedure to take someone who can't move or who has a lot of pain with movement, and they're up and going the next day."

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