Objective: To evaluate the clinical outcomes of two different surgical treatments for arachnoid cysts in sacral canal.
Methods: From January 2004 to March 2009, 55 cases of arachnoid cysts in the sacral canal were treated by traditional simple sacral laminectomies with resection of the cysts (group A, 25 cases) and novel CT-guided percutaneous fibrin glue therapy of arachnoid cysts (group B, 30 cases). Of them, there were 23 males and 32 females, aging 15-66 years with an average of 42.6 years; the duration of symptoms was 6 months to 15 years with an average of 3.5 years. L5-S1 was involved in 22 cases, S1,2 in 25 cases, S2,3 in 12 cases, S2 in 8 cases, and presacral in 2 cases. The size of cysts was 1.5 cm x 1.0 cm to 6.0 cm x 2.8 cm. The MRI examination showed that all patients had cysts in the sacral canal. There were no significant difference (P > 0.05) in sex, ages, disease duration and cysts size between two groups. Preoperative data and postoperative lumbosacral pain and function improvement were analyzed and compared between two groups.
Results: All operations were performed successfully. The operative time, blood loss and hospitalization days of group B were significantly less than those of group A (P < 0.01). All 55 cases were followed up from 9 to 61 months (mean 23 months). In group A, postoperative cerebrospinal fluid leakage (25 cases), intracranial infection (2 cases), nerve injury (3 cases), and nerve root irritation (8 cases) occurred; in group B, mild meningitis (3 cases) and low grade fever (5 cases) occurred. Except for nerve injury, other complications were cured after symptomatic management. During the follow-up, 2 recurrent cases were found in group A and 1 case in group B. Of them, 2 recurrent cases were treated with CT-guided percutaneous fibrin glue therapy of arachnoid cysts, and cysts disappeared. For two groups, there were significant differences in Oswestry functional disability index and visual analogue scale score between preoperation and postoperation (P < 0.01), and in the rate of score improvement between two groups (P < 0.01). According to the rating scale, the excellent and good rates of pain improvement were 64% in group A and 100% in group B; the excellent and good rates of function improvement were 24% in group A and 97% in group B.
Conclusion: CT-guided percutaneous fibrin glue therapy for arachnoid cysts in the sacral canal is a mini-invasive, safe, effective, and economical method, it may be better choices for the treatment of arachnoid cysts in the sacral canal.