Lumbar laminotomy and replantation for the treatment of adult spinal epidermoid cyst: A case report.

ABSTRACT

RATIONALE Adult spinal epidermoid cyst (SEC) is a rare tumor. Lumbar laminectomy and tumor removal was a routine surgical procedure for adult spinal epidermoid cyst according to the literature, but postoperative lumbar instability and intractable low back pain may occur. In this study, we presented a brief report of an adult lumbar epidermoid cyst and introduced another surgical approach. PATIENT CONCERNS This 28-year-old woman has been complaining of the severe right buttock pain and right thigh radiating pain for half a year. She had been diagnosed as sacroiliitis, spinal arthritis, and lumbar disc herniation at 3 different hospitals before coming to our hospital. And she received a variety of conservative treatments, including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, aspirin, acetaminophen, glucocorticoids, acupuncture, physical therapy, and so on. However, her pain did not diminish at all. Finally, we find a space-occupying lesion in her lumbar magnetic resonance images (MRI). The lesion was slightly low, equal, and uneven equal-low signals on T1WI. T2WI showed slightly higher, equal, and uneven equal-high signals. And a thin-rim enhancement was observed on Gd-DTPA-enhanced MRI. DIAGNOSES Adult spinal epidermoid cyst. INTERVENTIONS: The patient underwent a surgery of lumbar laminectomy, tumor excision, and spinous process-vertebral plate in situ replantation. OUTCOMES: Postoperative pathology prompted that the tumor was cystoid. The patient's symptoms were completely removed 1 week after surgery. Three-month postoperative MRI confirmed that the spinal epidermoid cyst had been completely removed and three-dimensional CT prompted lumbar lamina in situ. Bony fusion occurred at 6 months after the surgery. LESSONS Lumbar laminotomy and replantation provides an ideal option to treat adult spinal epidermoid cyst because it can completely remove the cyst and simultaneously reduce the risk of iatrogenic lumbar instability.