Background: There are many reports of en bloc resection for spinal tumors. However, no studies have evaluated the clinical outcomes with follow-up exceeding 10 years after surgery.
Methods: We reviewed 82 patients who had undergone total en bloc spondylectomy (TES) before January 2002 and identified 29 (19 with primary tumors and 10 with metastatic tumors) who had survived for more than 10 years after surgery. We evaluated the clinical outcomes including patient-based outcomes using questionnaire. The questionnaire included subjective assessment of the results of TES and SF-36.
Results: Overall, 33 % of patients with metastases from kidney cancer and 25 % of those with metastases from thyroid cancer survived for more than 10 years after TES for solitary spinal metastases. Four patients with metastatic tumors had no evidence of disease at the time of survey. There were no tumor recurrences in any of the 23 patients who underwent TES as the primary surgery. No revision surgeries have been required as a result of instrumentation failure in any of the 29 patients. About 90 % of the patients were satisfied or very satisfied with the results of TES. The SF-36 results demonstrated that the both physical and mental health of patients with primary tumors was equivalent to those of healthy individuals, and the mental health of patients with metastatic tumors was almost similar to them.
Conclusions: This study showed the long-term clinical outcomes after TES to be favorable. TES played an important role in the treatment strategy for spinal tumors including metastases.