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Vertebral Compression Fracture Causes

• Osteoporosis
  
  
  • This is a condition in which bone density is reduced, which may predispose a person to a vertebral compression fracture with little or no trauma.
    
    
  • Osteoporosis most commonly occurs in women who have gone through menopause, but it can also occur in elderly men and in people who have had long-term use of a steroid medication such as prednisone.
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• Trauma: Injury severe enough to cause a vertebra to break can occur with a fall from a tall height in which the person lands on his or her feet or buttocks. It can also occur in a person involved in a car accident.
  
  
• Pathologic fracture
  
  
  • This term refers to a fracture occurring in the vertebra due to preexisting disease at the fracture site.
    
    
  • Most commonly, this type of break is from cancer in the bone, which has often traveled from other sites in the body, such as from the prostate, breast, or lungs.
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  • The break may also occur because of a localized infection of the bone, called osteomyelitis, which may occur in people with diabetes or in those who abuse IV drugs.