Abstract
The rate of Metastatic Spinal Cord Compression (MSCC) has been increasing over recent years with increased patient survival from improved cancer treatment. MSCC presents an increasing demand for spinal surgical resources. NICE guidance was issued in 2008 to improve diagnosis and management and to prevent unnecessary delays which may result in disability. The recent advances in management of cancers coupled with improved spinal surgical approaches have improved the outcome in MSCC. Early surgery has been shown to improve restoration of function. A recent systematic review found that surgery produced superior results to radiotherapy alone for the management of MSCC. However, the quality of evidence so far is mostly from observational studies.
We would like to use Bluespier to create a database of MSCC patients referred to our tertiary centre. Our database would include all adult patients referred to the spinal surgical service with MSCC. Information recorded would be the diagnosis, time of onset and imaging, comorbidities, previous interventions, clinical findings, ASIA score, mobility status, sphincteric status, Karnofsky, Tokuhashi, Tomita and Bauer scores. These scores have been shown by numerous studies to have the best predictive value for outcome following MSCC. The SINS and Boriani MSCC protocols will be collected and externally validated. Time to surgery, operative data and intra operative complications will be recorded. PROMs will include the Oswestry / Neck disability index, VAS and SF36 scores. Post operative complications, morbidity and mortality will be collected and the details of any other therapy received. We would score the patients on admission and at 3 months, 6 months and one year post operatively (if survival allows). This will be done in out patients and via postal and telephone questionnaires. The database will flag the time intervals.
This database will enable us to improve the quality of care given to patients with MSCC, provide evidence to highlight the importance of prompt referral and surgical intervention, audit our care against the standards set out by NICE and establish the risks, complications and outcomes of surgical intervention in this high risk group. It will be the first study to externally validate and compare several different scoring systems and protocols (above) in the same cohort. Finally, the data can be used to perform a costing analysis for the treatment of MSCC in the NHS.
