Abstract
Presented is a retrospective analysis of 27 patients with plasma cell neoplasms of the spine treated by surgery. Multiple myeloma was confirmed in 22 (81%) and solitary plasmacytoma in 5 patients (19%), assessed at the time of surgery.
Nineteen patients (70%) with the preliminary diagnosis of malignancy of unknown etiology were admitted for surgery. In 23 patients (85%) the essential symptom was back pain, which preceded surgery by an average of 4 months.
Thirteen patients (48%) were bedridden due to tumor spinal cord compression, on average for 7 days before undergoing surgery. Only 5 out of 13 bedridden patients (38%) regained the ability to walk after surgery and 8 patients (62%) remained bedridden despite successful surgical decompression of the spinal cord.