Unilateral Hemilaminectomy for the Excision of Intradural Extramedullary Spinal Tumors: A Beginner's Challenges.

Abstract

To analyze retrospectively our experience of unilateral hemilaminectomy in intradural extramedullary (IDEM) tumors. This study included 28 patients with IDEM tumors who underwent unilateral hemilaminectomies during the period 2011?2016. The preoperative clinicoradiological data, intraoperative findings, and postoperative outcomes were analyzed using a Microsoft Excel database. The mean age of the patients was 49.14 ± 12.23 years, and the average duration of symptoms was 11.82 weeks. The tumor distribution in the spine was as follows: cervical spine (14.2%), cervicodorsal spine (3.6%), dorsal spine (39.3%), dorsolumbar spine (10.7%), and lumbar spine (32.1%). Twenty patients (71%) underwent two-level laminectomies, and three-level laminectomies were performed on eight patients (29%). The mean operative time was 4 hours and 40 minutes. Unilateral hemilaminectomy is a safe, minimally invasive procedure for the excision of IDEM tumors. Beginners may face difficulties with this procedure and should ideally take more time than with a conventional total laminectomy because of the narrow operating corridor. As more experience is gained, this procedure will become easier in selected cases.