An Analysis of Clinical Efficacy of Microsurgical Resection of Intradural Neoplasm by Unilateral Approach with Caspar Retractors

Objective: This study aims to investigate the clinical efficacy of minimally invasive microsurgical resection of intraspinal tumors with the aid of Caspar retractors. Materials and Methods: A total of 125 intraspinal tumor patients with lesions smaller than 6 cm, who were treated at the Neurosurgery Department of our hospital from March 2010 to March 2016, were retrospectively analyzed. Among these, 73 patients underwent microsurgical resection of intraspinal tumors with the aid of Caspar retractors, while 52 patients underwent conventional laminectomy for resection of intraspinal tumors. Relevant indicators between both groups of patients were compared, including length of surgical incision, duration of surgery, postoperative drainage volume, time to first out-of-bed activity after surgery, postoperative hospitalization period, visual analog score (VAS) score, and Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score, at 1 month after surgery. Results: Compared with the conventional laminectomy group, patients who underwent microsurgical resection with the aid of Caspar retractors had better outcomes in terms of length of surgical incision, postoperative drainage volume, time to first out-of-bed activity after surgery, postoperative hospitalization period, and VAS scores ( p < 0.05). However, JOA scores at 1 month after surgery did not have any significant differences ( p > 0.05). Conclusions: The microsurgical resection of intraspinal tumors with the aid of Caspar retractors has advantages of small trauma, less bleeding, and faster recovery. It is a safe and efficacious method for treating small intraspinal tumors.