Vertebral body cemented stents combined with posterior stabilization in the surgical treatment of metastatic spinal cord compression of the thoracolumbar spine

BACKGROUND: Extensile interventions to provide anterior spinal column support in metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC) surgery incur added morbidity in this surgically frail group of patients. We present our preliminary results of posterior spinal decompression and stabilization coupled with vertebral body cemented stents for anterior column support in MSCC. METHODS: Fourteen patients underwent posterior spinal decompression and pedicle screw construct along with vertebral body stenting (VBS) technique for reconstruction and augmentation of the vertebral body. The primary in all except one was solid organ malignancy and 10 patients (71%) were treatment naïve. The mean revised Tokuhashi score was 10.7 ± 2.7 and the mean spinal instability neoplastic score was 9.6 ± 1.9. All vertebral body lesions were purely lytic and were associated with a cortical defect in the posterior wall. RESULTS: A mean 5.3 ± 2.7 ml low-viscosity polymethyl methacrylate bone cement was injected within the stent at each compression level. No cement extrusion posteriorly was noted in any case from intraoperative fluoroscopy or postoperative radiographs. Five patients died at a mean 6.8 months (range 1–15 months), while the remaining patients have a mean survival of 18 months. Neither further revision surgical intervention nor any neurological deterioration was noted in any patient, who all continued to be ambulatory. The mean postoperative Core Outcome Measures Index score for 11 patients was 4.03 (standard deviation 3.11, 95% confidence interval (1.93–6.12). CONCLUSION: In lytic vertebral body lesions with posterior wall erosions, cemented VBS technique adds to the surgical armamentarium in MSCC surgery showing promising early results without added complications.