INTRODUCTIONThe present study aimed to assess the immediate/early clinical outcomes and surgical results of 11 consecutive patients who underwent palliative cervical spine surgery for symptomatic spinal metastases.

METHODSThis single-surgeon retrospective case series analysed 12 surgical procedures that were performed for symptomatic cervical spinal metastasis in 11 consecutive patients. All surgeries were carried out at Singapore General Hospital, Singapore, from 2007 to 2013. Preoperative medical oncological assessment/staging was performed on each patient--all patients presented with either axial neck pain or neurological deficits, and had no bladder or bowel symptoms. The primary outcomes analysed were postoperative neurological power and improvement in neck pain.

RESULTSAnterior (n = 5), posterior (n = 4) and combined (n = 2) surgical approaches were used for decompression and stabilisation. Comparing between pre- and postoperative pain scores (scored according to the visual analog scale), and pre- and postoperative limb power scores (scored according to the Medical Research Council scale for muscle strength), we found that all patients showed improvement in their symptoms. Postoperatively, patients had either improvement or preservation of neurological power, and all patients had a decrease in axial neck pain after surgery. Although there was one case of minor pedicle screw instrumentation malplacement, this did not result in any neurological symptoms. Median survival for the patients was 108 (range 7‒1,095) days.

CONCLUSIONPalliative surgery for cervical spine metastasis is safe with good neurological results, low complication rates, and improvement in neck pain. A multidisciplinary approach involving surgeons, medical oncologists and radiotherapists is needed to optimise patient care and outcome.

Adult ; Aged ; Decompression, Surgical ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Palliative Care ; methods ; Retrospective Studies ; Spinal Neoplasms ; secondary ; surgery ; Young Adult

Nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) is a common malignancy affecting Asian countries, especially the Chinese population. Treatment regimes and results have improved over the years with better overall survival outcome data. Radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy is successful in many patients. Local recurrences are treated with nasopharyngectomy or another course of radiotherapy. The upper cervical spine and skull base can also be involved in NPC patients. Possible aetiologies are osteoradionecrosis, chronic infection and tumour invasion. This article reviews the NPC involvement of C1-2 due to the various pathologies as well as the diagnostic and surgical treatment strategies. Three clinical cases that were surgically treated are discussed along with a review of the current literature.
Adult ; Aged ; Bone Neoplasms ; secondary ; Carcinoma ; Cervical Vertebrae ; drug effects ; radiation effects ; China ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; surgery ; Osteomyelitis ; diagnosis ; etiology ; surgery ; Osteoradionecrosis ; etiology ; Recurrence ; Spinal Fractures ; etiology ; Treatment Outcome