Minimally invasive management of spinal metastases

In most patients who have spinal metastases, treatment is mainly palliative. The conventional surgical methods carry higher risks of complications and postoperative morbidity. Minimally invasive spinal interventions seem to be reasonable alternatives to treat spinal metastatic disease. These procedures can result in less soft tissue trauma, lower blood loss, shorter hospitalization time and are better tolerated by the patients. In this review, the techniques and results of minimally invasive management in spinal metastasis, including percutaneous image-guided interventions (vertebroplasty, kyphoplasty, and radiofrequency ablation) and minimally invasive surgical techniques (endoscopic and minimal access operations), are presented.