In 2009 two groups of brave investigators put vertebroplasty to the true test. They enrolled 200 patients. Half of the patients got vertebroplasty; the other half were taken to the procedure room and prepped for the procedure; the cement was opened, so patients could smell it; and salt water was injected. Both groups of patients, those that got vertebroplasty and those that had a sham procedure, had identical improvements. Vertebroplasty, as it turned out, is no better than a placebo.
