Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 16, 2025
Author Spotlight: Scope of LE-ULBD as a Safe, Effective, and Minimally Invasive Approach to Treat Lumbar Spinal Stenosis
Published on: February 9, 2024
Unilateral Hemilaminectomy for the Excision of Intradural Extramedullary Spinal Tumors: A Beginner's Challenges
Vijendra Kumar1, Amit Kumar Upadhyay
1Super Specialty Cancer Institute and Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, CG City, Lucknow, UP, India.
Aim:
To analyze retrospectively our experience of unilateral hemilaminectomy in intradural extramedullary (IDEM) tumors.
Material And Methods:
This study included 28 patients with IDEM tumors who underwent unilateral hemilaminectomies during the period 2011?2016. The preoperative clinicoradiological data, intraoperative findings, and postoperative outcomes were analyzed using a Microsoft Excel database.
Results:
The mean age of the patients was 49.14 ± 12.23 years, and the average duration of symptoms was 11.82 weeks. The tumor distribution in the spine was as follows: cervical spine (14.2%), cervicodorsal spine (3.6%), dorsal spine (39.3%), dorsolumbar spine (10.7%), and lumbar spine (32.1%). Twenty patients (71%) underwent two-level laminectomies, and three-level laminectomies were performed on eight patients (29%). The mean operative time was 4 hours and 40 minutes.
Conclusion:
Unilateral hemilaminectomy is a safe, minimally invasive procedure for the excision of IDEM tumors. Beginners may face difficulties with this procedure and should ideally take more time than with a conventional total laminectomy because of the narrow operating corridor. As more experience is gained, this procedure will become easier in selected cases.
