Therapeutic Effects of Conservative Treatment with 2-Week Bed Rest for Osteoporotic Vertebral Fractures: A Prospective Cohort Study

Background:Although imaging findings that predict resistance to conservative treatment in patients with osteoporotic vertebral fracture (OVF) have recently been reported, no conservative treatment method has been standardized. In this study, the effects of initial bed rest on the outcomes of patients with OVF and in patients with and without poor prognostic findings on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were compared.Methods:This prospective cohort study at 2 facilities involved consecutive patients aged ≥65 years with OVF who began treatment within 2 weeks after their injury and were observed for 6 months. Patients at one hospital rested for 2 weeks (116 patients; mean age, 80.4 years), whereas those at the other hospital were not instructed to rest (108 patients; mean age, 81.5 years). Patients were further divided according to the presence or absence of poor prognostic MRI findings. The primary end point was the rate of transition to surgery; secondary end points included bone union rate, vertebral collapse progression, local kyphosis progression, and changes in activities of daily living (ADL).Results:Forty-five patients in the rest group (including 3 who required surgery) and 37 patients in the no-rest group (including 9 who required surgery) had poor prognostic MRI findings. Although the difference in the rate of transition to surgery between the rest and no-rest groups did not reach significance among all patients (p = 0.06), the transition rate in the rest group was significantly lower (p = 0.02) in the patients with poor prognostic MRI findings. Both the bone union rate and changes in ADL were not significantly different between the rest and no-rest groups. The mean vertebral collapse progression was 6.4% in the rest group and 20.9% in the no-rest group (p < 0.001), and the mean local kyphosis progression was 2.4° in the rest group and 8.8° in the no-rest group (p < 0.001).Conclusions:Although bed rest is not recommended for all patients, hospitalized bed rest for 2 weeks reduced the number of patients with OVF who require surgery among patients with poor prognostic MRI findings. Bed rest also reduced progression of vertebral collapse and kyphosis, regardless of the MRI findings.Level of Evidence:Therapeutic Level II. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.