"Minimizing Spinal Fixation During Spinal Cancer Surgery Still Effective...Improves Patient Quality of Life"

Seoul Asan Hospital Professor Jin-Hoon Park's Team
Reduces Surgical Scope to Lower Complication Rates

Professor Jin-Hoon Park of the Department of Neurosurgery at Asan Medical Center in Seoul is performing surgery on a patient with metastatic spinal tumor.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] A study has found that it is sufficient to fix the spine minimally and in a customized manner during spinal cancer surgery. Minimizing spinal fixation is expected to help patient prognosis and recovery of daily life.

The research team led by Professor Park Jin-hoon and Specialist Shin Hong-kyung from the Department of Neurosurgery at Seoul Asan Medical Center announced on the 31st that applying a minimally invasive spinal fixation surgery method significantly reduced the incidence of complications and improved patients' quality of life.

When cancer has metastasized to the spine, the tumor is removed surgically, and the potentially collapsing spine is firmly fixed with screws. Usually, a large incision of about 30 cm is made on the back, and more than four vertebrae are fixed. However, because the surgical area is extensive, many patients found the surgery itself difficult.

Professor Park’s team has been researching and applying surgical methods that reduce the incision range and preserve spinal segment movement as much as possible so that patients can move their lower back more comfortably during daily activities. Depending on the patient's overall health condition, tumor size, location, and infiltration status, the length and thickness of the screws used to fix the spine were adjusted. After tumor removal, only two vertebrae?half the usual number?were fixed, or surgery was performed without spinal fixation, treating only the nerves causing pain.

Analyzing the treatment results of 105 patients who underwent this surgery, the complication rate, including hematoma or recurrence, was about 6%. Since the complication rate with conventional methods has been reported to be as high as 10-20%, the risk of complications was significantly reduced when the minimally invasive spinal fixation surgery method was applied.

Additionally, various indicators that check subjective quality of life (such as ECOG-PS, KPS) showed significant improvement, with patients reporting that they could perform some daily activities after surgery, whereas before they were almost completely inactive. There was no statistical difference in the one-year survival rate between the conventional surgery and the minimally invasive spinal fixation surgery, indicating no impact on cancer treatment.

Professor Park said, “Applying a ‘customized’ minimally invasive spinal fixation surgery method to patients with metastatic spinal tumors will increase surgical opportunities for cancer patients who needed surgery due to severe pain but could not undergo it because of poor health. It is expected to greatly reduce the risk of complications and pain after surgery, thereby improving patients’ quality of life.”

The results of this study were recently published in the international academic journal Medicine.

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