Postoperative ambulation of patients with intraspinal neurilemomas and meningiomas

Factors affecting the postoperative ambulatory state of patients with intraspinal neurilemomas and meningiomas were evaluated in 92 patients who underwent surgery at the Chang Gung Memoriam Hospital. The patients' records were reviewed retrospectively and leg power grading was noted (Medical Research Council of Great Britain grading system, zero to five). Of the 89 patients with a preoperative leg power of 1 or better, 87 could walk with or without aids shortly after surgery. The remaining three patients, with a preoperative leg power of zero, were all wheelchair-bound postoperatively. The presence of sensory deficits and sphincter incontinence did not correlates with a poor postoperative ambulatory state, provided the preoperative leg power was above zero. The average period between the onset of the earliest symptoms and the establishment of the diagnosis was 68 weeks for patients with intraspinal neurilemomas and 71 weeks for those with meningiomas. Surgical for patients with neurilemomas were as good as those with meningiomas. Patients with multiple spinal neurilemomas did not fare any worse after surgery.