Intradural Spinal Cord Tumor Resections by a Neurosurgeon at a Tertiary Care Hospital

Introduction: Intradural spinal cord tumors are rare. A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients who underwent surgical resection of an intradural spinal cord tumor between 9/4/1998 and 10/1/2010 by one surgeon. Methods: Cases included adults (>18 years old) who had undergone spinal tumor resections. Endpoints examined included complication rates, discharge destinations, and lengths of hospitalization. Data was obtained via chart abstraction. Contingency tables were created, and estimates of relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to determine the relationship between the endpoints of interest and a variety of variables (e.g., sex, ethnicity, tumor location). Sixty-six cases met the inclusion criteria. Results: The median lengths of stay for males and females were 4 and 5 days, respectively; the distributions in the two groups differed significantly (Mann-Whitney U=541.5, nmale=30, nfemale=36, P