Iodine-125 radioactive seed implantation combined with vertebroplasty and nail-rod fixation for thoracolumbar metastatic tumors / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:At present, vertebroplasty and spinal canal decompression are common methods for treatment of metastatic spinal tumors. Iodine-125 (125 I) radioactive seed implantation has been shown to control the tumor. However, there were few clinical studies on combined therapy using above-mentioned methods. OBJECTIVE:To compare the differences of 125I radioactive seed implantation combined with vertebroplasty and titanium al oy nail-rod fixation and vertebroplasty combined with titanium al oy nail-rod fixation for treating thoracolumbar metastases on pain control, general performance and improvement of the spinal cord function, and to evaluate clinical value of 125 I radioactive seed implantation combined with therapeutic plans. METHODS:Thoracolumbar metastases patients undergoing titanium al oy nail-rod fixation were selected in the Department of Spinal Surgery, Shenzhen Municipal People’s Hospital in China from October 2009 to March 2013. They were assigned to experimental and control groups according to with or without 125 I radioactive seed implantation. Improvement in neurological function was observed before and 2 weeks, 1, 6, and 12 months after titanium al oy nail-rod fixation in both groups. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Al patients were fol owed up for 7 to 29 months, averagely 15.8 months. There was no loosening of titanium al oy nail-rod fixation and the position of bone cement was good. No seed migration or radioactive spinal cord injury was observed. No relapse or diffusion in the surgical site was observed during fol ow up. Visual Analogue Scale and Karnofsky Performance Status scores were higher in the experimental group than in the control group (P0.05). Results indicated that 125 I radioactive seed implantation combined with vertebroplasty and titanium al oy nail-rod fixation for treatment of metastatic spinal tumors showed obvious outcomes in relieving cancer pain.