Vertebral Artery Mobilization and Cervical Tumor Resection.

BACKGROUND: To emphasize the importance of vertebral artery (VA) mobilization by reviewing the anatomy and variations of the VA while performing total resection of VA-associated tumors that develop from different tissues. METHODS: VA mobilization and mass resection were performed after the evaluation and preoperative imaging of 22 patients with VA-related tumors. Anterior, posterior, or both approaches were conducted on the patients and stabilization was also applied to the patients in need. Radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy were planned for patients with malignant tumors as shown by histopathology. RESULTS: Overall, 17 patients with benign and 5 patients with malignant tumors underwent tumor resection with VA mobilizing. There were 13 male and 9 female patients with a mean age of 29.3 years. The average follow-up duration was 53 months. All the patients received gross total tumor resection and had a good postoperative neurological recovery. No complications were observed; local recurrence was observed only in 2 patients. CONCLUSIONS: VA mobilization reduces the need for instrumentation in VA-related cases, especially nerve tumors, and increases the possibility of the surgical resection of vertebral tumors.