Is it necessary to embolise all spinal metastases from primary renal tumours?

Kyle McDonald; Lynn Esther Murphy; Niall Eames

doi:10.1016/j.jor.2015.12.002

Is it necessary to embolise all spinal metastases from primary renal tumours?

J Orthop. 2016 Jan 7;13(4):472-474. doi: 10.1016/j.jor.2015.12.002. eCollection 2016 Dec.

Authors

Kyle McDonald¹, Lynn Esther Murphy², Niall Eames¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.
² Altnagelvin Area Hospital, Londonderry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Introduction: Spinal metastases secondary to renal cell carcinoma are associated with significant intra-operative blood loss. Our aim was to assess if embolisation reduced the intra-operative blood loss and transfusion requirement.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of 25 patients undergoing surgery between 2003 and 2011.

Results: 14 underwent pre-operative embolisation; 11 did not. There was no significant difference in intra-operative blood loss, 1336 ml vs 1492 ml in the non-embolised (p value = 0.116). 43% of embolised patients required an intra operative blood transfusion vs 27% in the non-embolised.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that not all patients with spinal metastatic renal carcinoma require pre-operative embolisation.

Keywords: Pre-operative embolisation; Renal carcinoma; Spinal metastases.