Mildred Vinson of the Mar Mac community started having pains in the center of her back that bothered her for nearly two months. At first, she thought she might have pulled a muscle, although she didn't know how or when it happened.

"I gave myself time and it didn't get any better; it actually got worse," she said. Her family doctor suggested X-rays and then referred her to Dr. Barry Katz of Goldsboro Neurological Surgery.

Katz read the X-rays and knew what might help Mrs. Vinson, age 81 and with a history of osteoporosis. Vertebroplasty is a mostly outpatient procedure that is working well for patients with osteoporosis or pathologic compression fractures.

"He told me about this surgery and said to think about it and see if I should have it done," Mrs. Vinson said. "He said he couldn't promise it would help but felt sure it would."

Weak and soft bones in the spine typically occur in older people, but Katz said compression fractures can happen at any age and cause back or extremity pain. Because the bone is weak, it can be one of the most difficult things to treat.

"Treatment for that is pain medication," Katz said. "If it doesn't get better, the person can be laid up for years."

He said vertebroplasty is a simple operation that takes less than an hour. The patient is awake but sedated and there is no incision. A form of cement is injected through a fine needle. It goes in as a liquid and hardens within 10 minutes.

"Methylmethacralate, a bone cement, has been around a while," he said. "The procedure was first done in Europe about 10 years ago. It's only been in the U.S. about seven years and became widespread in the last couple of years.

"It's done through an X-ray guidance machine and watched through fluoroscopy to see where it's going. The goal is to splint the fractured vertebrae; it's almost like a cast on the back. The cement splints the fracture and no one knows why the pain goes away, but it does."

He said the procedure is new but proven, with a 90 percent success rate.

Mrs. Vinson had the procedure in December. She said she could tell a big difference right away.

Mrs. Vinson said she has always been an active person and felt like returning to her normal routine right away but followed her doctor's advice to take it slow.

"I feel I owe Dr. Katz so much," she said. "Most people, when they reach my age, think there's nothing that can help and so many people have osteoporosis now. But so many people give up."

She said she has talked with many women that have the same back problem she did and are on medication.

"I know that this procedure is so much better than medication," she said. "I am just so thankful that I found out about it."

Katz said he began to receive calls from medical professionals over the last year about doing the procedure since it is similar to reconstructive spinal surgery that he already does. He decided to study it further and has since performed a few vertebroplasties. He hopes to get the word out that it is available locally.

"I sent out a letter to doctors at out hospital, that if any patients that need this, to send them," he said. "I am going to send a similar letter to doctors in the community, as well as Wilson, Kinston, and Smithfield, to see if we can get more people aware of this.

"The goal is not to have people sent out to hospitals out of the area, that this is a procedure that we can do here with good results. You don't have to travel to have it done."

Katz said the procedure will grow in popularity once word spreads.