Minimally invasive surgery for spinal tumors

Spinal tumors comprise a diverse set of pathologies, including tumors of the spinal cord, its meninges, and tumors of the bony spinal column. Tumors in each location can be divided into benign and malignant primary lesions, which most commonly arise from the cord and meninges, and metastases, which more commonly localize to the bony elements. Traditionally both spinal cord tumors and lesions of the vertebral column have been treated surgically, despite the often high morbidity associated with such procedures. In the past two decades though, more minimally invasive techniques have been developed for the treatment of spinal tumors, which decrease intraoperative morbidity, shorten postoperative recovery, and accelerate the return to systemic treatment. The goal of this chapter is to give a brief overview of spinal oncology, along with a description of the minimally invasive surgical techniques that have been developed to address these pathologies.