Surgical management of spinal metastases

Introduction: The treatment of metastatic spine disease is a complex task. It requires a comprehensive approach from the spine surgeons. With the advancement in the oncologic treatments like targeted therapy, carbon ion/proton radiotherapy, immunotherapy the expected overall survival of tumour patients improved, thus increased the incidence of metastatic spinal diseases. The state-of-the-art spinal surgical techniques and instrumentation helps the spine surgeons to restore the metastatic patient’s ambulation, and to overall improve their well-being.

Objectives: The object of this paper was to summarize and review the current surgical directive in the treatment of metastatic spinal disease.

Methods: Literature review was performed to support the author’s opinion on the matter of surgical management of spinal metastatic disease. Primarily PubMed was used as a search engine.

Conclusions: Despite the advancement in radio and chemotherapy, surgery remains the only option in many patients with metastatic spinal disease. With advanced surgical technologies spine surgeons can overall improve the spinal metastatic patients’ quality of life, by maintaining or restoring ambulation and reducing mechanical pain.