Reports of endoscopic surgery for the spine have recently been increasing. Video assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) for the thoracic dumbbell tumor was attempted.
The patient was a 21 years-old male with back and costal nerve pain. Lt. 4th thoracic nerve root dumbbell tumor (Eden type 4) was found on MRI. The tumor was totally resected with Bipolar scissors and Autosonics. Pathology was neurinoma.
The operation time was 130 minutes, and blood loss was 210ml. No pain or recurrence of tumor was found at 6 months after surgery. VATS is a useful procedure for thoracic spine.