Transition from partial to near-total/radical resection of spinal cord lipomas

The objective of this retrospective study was to compare the outcomes and associated complication rates in the surgical management of spinal cord lipomas following a change of practice within our institution from partial resection (PR) to near-total/radical resection (NTR).

Twenty-four children underwent surgical treatment for symptomatic spinal cord lipomas between 2009 and 2020. The near-total/radical resection group included 20 patients with spinal cord lipomas and the comparison group included 6 patients with spinal cord lipomas who underwent partial resection. Filar lipomas were excluded.

The mean age of the patients was 7 years (range 1-14 years). Post-operatively, a higher proportion of NTR patients (17/20, 85%) demonstrated improvement or stabilisation in Necker-Enfants Malades scores compared to PR patients (3/6, 50%) with a mean follow-up of 48 and 108 months respectively. Two patients underwent re-do untethering surgery, both of which initially underwent partial resection surgery. Complication rates did not significantly differ between the two groups.

Our data supports the view that near-total/radical resection should be considered the technique of choice over the conventional method of partial resection for spinal cord lipomas with no significant increase in complication rates.