Pure endoscopic minimally invasive surgery with a non-expandable tubular retractor for intradural extramedullary spinal tumors

Minimally invasive spinal surgery (MISS) for intradural extramedullary (IDEM) spinal tumors is a safe and effective surgical strategy. Currently, various tubular retractors are widely used in the MISS of IDEM spinal tumors, primarily relying on microscopic visualization. To the best of the authors' knowledge, there is no report of pure endoscopic surgery with parallel non-expandable tubular retractors for IDEM spinal lesions. The present study reports a case series of IDEM spinal tumors that were treated via pure endoscopic MISS with a parallel non-expandable tubular retractor. The extent of tumor resection was evaluated by comparing preoperative and postoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The initial and follow-up clinical conditions were assessed according to the visual analog scale for pain and the modified McCormick scale for neurological status. Postoperative MRI demonstrated that all cases had achieved a gross total resection. After the operation, the clinical symptoms of all patients were significantly improved and there were no serious postoperative complications. At the initial follow-up, the pain experienced by the patients was significantly reduced or had even disappeared, and the neurological deficit was improved by at least one grade on the modified McCormick scale. The present report indicates that pure endoscopic MISS with a parallel non-expandable tubular retractor may be an effective and safe surgical strategy for IDEM spinal tumor resection.