Separation surgery for spinal metastases: effect of spinal radiosurgery on surgical treatment goals.

BACKGROUND The treatment of epidural spinal cord compression due to metastatic cancer represents an important clinical challenge. The NOMS (neurologic, oncologic, mechanical, and systemic) framework facilitates the determination of the optimal combination of systemic, radiation, and surgical therapies for individual patients. Spinal stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is an effective and safe modality for achieving durable control of local disease. Integrating SRS into the postoperative treatment plan allows surgical goals to be modified, thus decreasing the extent of tumor resection required. METHODS Separation surgery is indicated for patients with spinal cord compression secondary to solid tumor metastases. During separation surgery, the spinal column is stabilized and the epidural tumor is resected without requiring significant vertebral body resection. RESULTS Tumor separation from the spinal cord allows patients to undergo postoperative SRS. CONCLUSIONS The combination of separation surgery and high-dose hypofractionated or single-fraction SRS results in high local tumor control at 1 year and is an effective palliative paradigm for this patient population.