Open kyphoplasty in the treatment of a painful vertebral lytic lesion with spinal cord compression caused by multiple myeloma: A case report

Multiple myeloma is a fatal hematological malignancy, with the most common localization being the spine. A 72-year-old male patient presented with progressive back pain and dysfunction of ambulation. Spinal computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed spinal cord compression at the T9-T10 level due to an extensive epidural mass in the spinal canal, a large lytic mass of T7-T12 with extraosseous extension and involvement of T9 and T10 vertebral pedicle and posterior wall. The patient underwent posterior spinal decompression and kyphoplasty of T9 and T10 with pedicle screw fixation in T7, T8, T11 and T12. Pain and neural function were improved significantly postoperatively. To our knowledge, such methods have rarely been used to treat a patient with intractable back pain and neurological compromise with multiple myeloma or spinal metastases.