Instrumentation surgery for tumor of the spine

: Spinal instrumentation surgery has come into wide use recently, especially for tumor of the spine. It is very effective for fixing the spine for relieving the patient from pain. But the decision about the indication of instrumentation surgery for tumor of the spine must be made carefully. In cases of double malignant tumors including spinal tumor, it is hard to decide how to treat tumor of the spine. We report a case of 78-year-old male with multiple myeloma of the cervical spine and cancer of the prostate. The patient had been in good health until one year previously, when he started to complain of nuchal pain. He became bedridden with loss of voluntary control of the right upper extremity for the last two months. Then he was admitted to our hospital and radiological examination was carried out. It revealed tumor of the cervical spine and it seemed to be bone metastasis. Further examination revealed that the patient was suffering from multiple myeloma and cancer of the prostate. The tumor of the spine was diagnosed as either multiple myeloma or metastasis of cancer of the prostate. Spinal instrumentation surgery using Luque-rod was carried out as one of the comprehensive treatment plans for double malignant tumors. The instrumentation surgery was effective for fixing the spine and improving the patient's quality of life. In operative procedures, intraoperative spinal cord monitoring was carried out. Intraoperative spinal cord monitoring was indispensable for preventing spinal cord injury. The tumor of the spine was diagnosed as multiple myeloma by pathological examination.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)