Objective       To determine  the causes of non-surgical vertebral fractures in elderly patients after percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) to reduce the incidence and promote the development of PVP.        Methods       From February 2011 to March 2012

106 elderly patients (60 years old) recieving PVP surgery in our hospital were included in the study. There were 38 males and 68 females with an average age of 73.6 years (62 to 94 years). A retrospective study was used after following-up of 13 to 16 months

according to the clinical data and following-up results. The patients were divided into a re-fracture group and a non-fracture group by the occurrence of new vertebral fractures. The patients’ general factors such as age

gender

body mass index

bone density

the number of vertebral fractures before surgery

and whether having long-term use of corticosteroids were recorded

as well as surgery-related factors such as the number of strengthen vertebrae

unilateral and bilateral surgical approach

restored vertebral height

and sagittal angle of kyphosis restoration

and so on. Related causes of non-surgical vertebral fractures in elderly patients were analyzed.        Results       Forty-two patients suffered from nonsurgical vertebral fracture again

with re-fracture rate of 39.62%. Univariate analysis showed that age

bone mineral density

and long-term use of glucocorticoids were significantly associated with the nonsurgical vertebral fracture (P0.05)

while gender

body mass index

the number of strengthen vertebrae

unilateral and bilateral surgical approach

restored vertebral height

and sagittal angle of kyphosis restoration were not (P0.05).        Conclusion       Age

severe osteoporosis and long-term use of corticosteroids are important reasons for the non-surgical vertebral fractures in elderly patients after PVP.