Current Surgical Treatment Strategy for Spinal Cord Tumors

Abstract

  Spinal cord tumors may be epidural, intradural extramedullary, and intramedullary. Histological diagnoses are diverse, as observed for brain tumor pathologies. However, the treatment strategies for spinal cord tumors have similarities.

  1. The diagnoses and surgical indications for spinal cord tumors should rely on neurological findings and imaging studies.

  2. Surgical treatment should be aimed at the maximum degree of tumor resection and the preservation of neurological function.

  In this paper, we discuss a few clinical cases to explain the important strategies for treating spinal cord tumors. It is difficult to remove intramedullary tumors while preserving neurological function in the small and fragile spinal cord.