Spinal compression fractures can be caused by many things. While osteoporosis is the most common cause, certain types of cancer that either originate in the spine or spread from another part of your body (e.g., lung, breast) can cause a spinal bone to break or fracture.
Although leg pain is common and usually goes away without surgery, cauda equina syndrome, a rare disorder affecting the bundle of nerve roots (cauda equina) at the lower (lumbar) end of the spinal cord, is a surgical emergency.