[Comparison of minimally invasive and traditional surgical treatment of extramedullary tumors of the craniovertebral junction].

Objective: To compare minimally invasive and traditional surgical treatment of extramedullary tumors of the craniovertebral junction (CVJ).

Material and methods: The study included patients who underwent microsurgical resection of extramedullary tumors of the craniovertebral junction. Clinical and surgical parameters reflecting the effectiveness and safety of surgical methods used were analyzed.

Results: The study included 61 patients (minimally invasive approaches (MISS) - 29 patients, traditional approaches (OPEN) - 32 patients). Total resection of tumor was achieved in most patients with high safety according to intraoperative and postoperative parameters. In two cases, redo surgery was required due to wound cerebrospinal fluid leakage and large CSF cyst in soft tissues. Mean hospital-stay was 7 days. VAS score of pain syndrome within surgical site at discharge averaged 2 points. Three months after surgery, pain syndrome was almost absent in all patients. There were no significant differences in parameters of neurophysiological monitoring (p=0.758).

Conclusion: Undoubtedly, further searching and improvement of minimally invasive surgical approaches with subsequent study of their effectiveness and safety are necessary in randomized clinical trials.