A Review of Surgically Treated Intraspinal Schwannoma.

We reviewed 12 cases (7 males and 5 females) with intra-spinal canal Schwannoma who had undergone surgical treatment during the last 20 years.Tumors occupied the intradural extramedullary space in 7 and were extradural in 5. All extradural cases were dumbbell-shaped. Laminectomy was performed in 10 cases, using an anterior approach in one case and postero-laterel approach in one case. The mean age at operation was 47 years old with a mean duration of follow-up of 5 years (range: 1-15 years).Patients were evaluated pre- and post-operatively with 4 major symptoms such as sensory disturbance, motor dysfunction, sphincter problems and pain classified into 3 grades, scored 0 to 2 points, according to severity. If the patient was symptom-free he received 8 points.Average score of pre- and post-operative status was 4.5 and 7.3 in the cervical region, 2.7 and 6.7 in the thoracic region and 5.0 and 7.0 in the lumber region, respectively.Although 6 thoracic cases had lower pre-operative scores than those of other regions, post-operative scores showed no significant differences in spinal levels and operative methods.