Turkish Neurosurgery 2021 , Vol 31 , Num 2
Unilateral Hemilaminectomy for the Excision of Intradural Extramedullary Spinal Tumors: A Beginner's Challenges
Vijendra KUMAR1,Amit Kumar UPADHYAY1
1Super Specialty Cancer Institute and Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, CG City, Lucknow, UP, India DOI : 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.27841-19.2 AIM: To analyze retrospectively our experience of unilateral hemilaminectomy in intradural extramedullary (IDEM) tumors.

MATERIAL and METHODS: 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.

RESULTS: 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.

CONCLUSION: 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. Keywords : Unilateral, Hemilaminectomy, Spinal cord, Tumors

Corresponding author : Amit Kumar UPADHYAY, amitu58@gmail.com