Case Series of Ultrasonic Navigated Osteotomy for the Treatment of Spinal Chordomas

Chordomas present challenges for en bloc surgical resection, which optimally reduces local recurrence and increases patient survival. Navigated ultrasonic osteotomy, also known as piezosurgery, provides a distinct advantage for achieving negative margins after en bloc resection.

Eight consecutive patients with chordomas (2 cervical, 3 lumbar, and 3 sacral) treated with navigated ultrasonic osteotomy to achieve en bloc resection were identified from our institutional spine tumor database (2016-2019) and retrospectively reviewed.

En bloc resection, with negative margins, was achieved in all cases. Two patients (25%) were women, and mean age at surgery was 44 ± 11 years. Median estimated blood loss was 1000 mL (interquartile range: 263-1500 mL). Median length of hospital stay was 10 days (interquartile range: 3-19.5 days). Two patients required a revision procedure. Two patients had complications requiring readmission within the 30-day postoperative window. Mean duration of follow-up for the cohort was 900 ± 554 days.

Navigated ultrasonic osteotomy is an effective surgical technique to achieve en bloc resection of chordomas with negative margins and disease-free survival. To date, this represents the first reported cohort of patients undergoing the procedure as described here. Future studies should include larger sample sizes for more robust clinical outcome data to further elucidate the benefits of piezosurgery for obtaining en bloc chordoma resection.