From the Popular Press: What Your Patients are Reading:

The use of bone-morphogenic protein (BMP), an agent that stimulates the creation of new bone as part of spinal fusion surgery, is on the rise in the US, with an estimated 25% of spinal fusion surgeries performed in the US now relying on BMP. This rise is occurring despite research shows that costs and complication rates appear to be higher with the use of BMP than in fusion procedures that don't use the agent. BMP was approved by the FDA in 2002 for use in spinal fusion surgeries in the lower back area, but many surgeons use the product off-label in other areas. The highest rate of complications appears to occur when BMP is used in procedures involving the front part of the neck, where swelling can lead to difficulty swallowing or even breathing. After reviewing data from more than 328,000 spinal fusion procedures that took place between 2002 and 2006 in the US, researchers found that he risk of complications for procedures involving the front part of the neck increased by 43% when BMP was used. In other procedures, its use did not appear to raise the risk of complications. It does significantly raise the cost, however, for all procedures. Researchers concluded that surgeons should approach off-label use of BMP with extreme caution, and not use BMP indiscriminately.

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