Do you delay spinal surgery (e.g. lumbar decompression for stenosis) in men or women with newly diagnosed osteoporosis and multiple thoracic compression fractures (not involving site of potential surgery) in order to initiate anabolic or anti-resorptive therapy to potentially improve surgical healing outcomes?

This is a fairly common clinical issue. Increasingly, spine surgeons are requesting anabolic bone medications prior to the type of surgery outlined in the question. Our approach has been to use three months of such treatment prior to the surgical procedure and then to continue that treatment after t...

It's a good thing that orthopedic surgeons are paying attention to underlying bone health. There are a number of factors that impact the scenario you describe above. First, and most important, is whether you know how recent the fractures were. Recent fractures impart greater risk than remote fractur...