A specialized medical team at King Fahd Medical City succeeded in fixing a pathological fracture in the sacral bone in the pelvic region of a patient with cancerous tumors by placing a medical metal nail using interventional radiology without surgery.
The second Riyadh Health Assembly said the patient had breast cancer and a fourth-degree spread of cancer, mostly in the bone, as she suffers from mechanical pain in the lower back and has great difficulty standing and sitting. Through x-rays and examinations, it was found that she had a pathological fracture in more than one area, but what was consistent with symptoms was what was treated in the pelvic area.
A consultant specialized in bone, muscle and nonvascular interventional radiology explained that the best way to treat such mechanical pain is to fix the fracture in order to relieve pain, facilitate exercises and rehabilitate the patient through the rehabilitation department, pointing out that this technique began years ago abroad, and studies have proven its success and safety while being conducted. For patients who do not need surgery or face difficulty of performing the surgery due to their health condition, as this procedure is done by making a 2 to 3 mm incision in the skin under local or general anesthesia, taking two hours in one session.
He mentioned that this technology was first used in pathological fractures of cancer patients to relieve mechanical pain, and at the present time it has begun to be used to stabilize fractures caused by osteoporosis.