Abstract:Objective To analyze the influencing factors of bone cement leakage after percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP) for thoracolumbar vertebral fractures and its relationship with early prognosis.Methods Ninety-four patients with thoracolumbar vertebral fractures who underwent PKP treatment in Suzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Taicang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from May 2020 to August 2023 were selected. X-ray, MRI and CT scans were used to analyze the incidence of postoperative bone cement leakage, and patients were divided into the occurrence group and the non-occurrence group based on whether bone cement leakage occurred. The general characteristics of the two groups were compared, and the factors affecting bone cement leakage after PKP in patients with thoracolumbar vertebral fractures were analyzed. The patients were further divided into the good prognosis group and the poor prognosis group based on their outcomes three months after surgery. The general characteristics of the two subgroups were compared, and factors influencing postoperative prognosis after PKP in patients with thoracolumbar vertebral fractures were analyzed.Results In 94 patients with thoracolumbar vertebral fractures, there were 25 cases of bone cement leakage after PKP, with a leakage rate of 26.60%. There were 20 patients with a poor prognosis after PKP, with a poor prognosis rate of 21.28%. There were no statistically significant differences between the occurrence group and the non-occurrence group in terms of sex composition, age, history of hypertension and diabetes, cause of injury, AO classification, location of fractures, BMI, and disease duration (P > 0.05). The proportion of bone cement volume ≥ 6 mL, the rate of vertebral wall destruction, the proportion of the vertebral compression degree ≥ 50%, and the rate of connections between the basivertebral foramen and the intravertebral cleft were all higher in the occurrence group than those in the non-occurrence group. Multivariable Logistic regression analysis revealed that bone cement volume ≥ 6 mL [O^R = 3.333 (95% CI: 1.282, 8.664) ], vertebral wall destruction [O^R = 3.893 (95% CI: 1.489, 10.177) ], vertebral compression degree ≥ 50% [O^R = 3.606 (95% CI: 1.387, 9.373) ], and connections between the basivertebral foramen and the intravertebral cleft [O^R = 3.900 (95% CI: 1.477, 0.298) ] were risk factors for bone cement leakage after PKP in patients with thoracolumbar vertebral fractures (P < 0.05). According to the ROC curve analysis, the sensitivities of bone cement volume ≥ 6 mL, vertebral wall destruction, vertebral compression degree ≥ 50%, connections between the basivertebral foramen and the intravertebral cleft, and their combination for predicting bone cement leakage after PKP in patients with thoracolumbar vertebral fractures were 64.0% (95% CI: 0.530, 0.750) and 56.0% (95% CI: 95% CI: 0.449, 0.671), 56.0% (95% CI: 0.450, 0.670), 52.0% (95% CI: 0.410, 0.630), and 80.0% (95% CI: 0.723, 0.877), with the specificities being 65.2% (95% CI: 0.543, 0.763), 75.4% (95% CI: 0.644, 0.874), 73.9% (95% CI: 0.629, 0.849), 78.3% (95% CI: 0.673, 0.893), and 97.1% (95% CI: 0.821, 1.000). The area under the curve (AUC) of the combined detection was 0.886, demonstrating a high predictive value. There were no statistically significant differences between the poor prognosis group and the good prognosis group in terms of sex composition, history of hypertension and diabetes, cause of injury, AO classification, location of fractures, BMI, vertebral wall destruction, connections between the basivertebral foramen and the intravertebral cleft, and disease duration (P > 0.05). The age, the proportion of bone cement volume ≥ 6 mL, the incidence of bone cement leakage, and the proportion of the vertebral compression degree ≥50% in the poor prognosis group were higher than those in the good prognosis group (P < 0.05). Multivariable Logistic regression analysis showed that bone cement volume ≥ 6 mL [O^R = 3.333 (95% CI: 1.282, 8.664) ], older age [O^R = 1.323 (95% CI: 1.105, 1.584) ], vertebral compression degree ≥ 50% [O^R = 3.893 (95% CI: 1.489, 10.177) ], and bone cement leakage [O^R = 7.125 (95% CI: 2.585, 19.637) ] were factors affecting the poor prognosis after PKP in patients with thoracolumbar vertebral fractures (P < 0.05). ROC curve analysis demonstrated that the sensitivities of bone cement volume ≥ 6 mL, older age, vertebral compression degree ≥50%, bone cement leakage and their combination for predicting the poor prognosis after PKP in patients with thoracolumbar vertebral fractures were 66.2% (95% CI: 0.562, 0.762), 73.0% (95% CI: 0.620, 0.840), 75.7% (95% CI: 0.647, 0.867), 82.4% (95% CI: 0.714, 0.934) and 89.2% (95% CI: 0.728, 0.971), with the specificities being 75.0% (95% CI: 0.650, 0.850), 70.0% (95% CI: 0.590, 0.811), 65.0% (95% CI: 0.581, 0.729), 70.0% (95% CI: 0.627, 0.774) and 90.0% (95% CI: 0.829, 0.971). In addition, the combined detection of these indicators yielded an AUC of 0.905, with a high predictive value.Conclusions Bone cement volume ≥ 6 mL, vertebral wall destruction, vertebral compression degree ≥ 50%, and connections between the basivertebral foramen and the intravertebral cleft were the influencing factors for bone cement leakage after PKP in patients with thoracolumbar vertebral fractures. Besides, bone cement volume ≥ 6 mL, older age, vertebral compression degree ≥ 50%, and bone cement leakage were the influencing factors for poor prognosis after PKP in patients with thoracolumbar vertebral fractures. Early identification and correction of reversible factors are helpful to improve bone cement leakage and prognosis of patients with thoracolumbar vertebral fractures after PKP.