ASSESSMENT OF THE POSTERIOR APPROACH FOR SURGICAL TREATMENT OF SPINAL METASTATIC BREAST CANCER

OBJECTIVE: To assess the clinical and radiological aspects of patients with spinal metastatic breast cancer who underwent surgical treatment by posterior approach. METHODS: This is a retrospective and descriptive study. Clinical assessment included the patient’s sex, age, surgical treatment employed and complications. Radiological assessment comprised the study of the morphopathological characteristics of the lesions. RESULTS: Data from 44 patients (93.2% female) submitted to surgical treatment of spinal metastasis were collected. The average age of diagnosis was 56.79 years. Decompression and posterior fixation with pedicle screws were performed in 43.1% of patients, while 36.3% underwent decompression and posterior fixation with pedicle screws associated with corpectomy and replacement with intersomatic device filled with bone cement. In 20.4%, kyphoplasty was the chosen procedure. Eighteen percent of patients had surgical complications, and the thoracic spine was most affected by the tumor. CONCLUSION: The clinical and radiological presentation of this group of patients is variable. The posterior portion of the vertebrae was more affected than the anterior. Although surgical treatment by posterior approach does not have the objective of curing the underlying disease, it can present favorable results, with higher rate of complication in major surgeries. Level of evidence IV, Therapeutic Studys.