Unilateral hemilaminectomy for pediatric intradural spinal tumors: a consecutive case series.

Authors

Serdar Kahraman, Mehmet Alpay Çal

Published in

Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery. Volume 42. Issue 1. Aug 03, 2026. Epub Aug 03, 2026.

Abstract

To describe the perioperative, oncologic, and structural outcomes of unilateral hemilaminectomy for pediatric intradural spinal tumors.
We retrospectively reviewed all children aged ≤ 16 years who underwent unilateral hemilaminectomy for an intradural spinal tumor at a single tertiary center between 2018 and 2023. Clinical records, operative data, early postoperative contrast-enhanced MRI, and subsequent surveillance imaging were evaluated. Primary outcomes were 30-day complications and clinically detected postoperative deformity or instability requiring further evaluation or treatment.
Among 246 spinal tumor operations across all age groups, 11 involved children; six extradural tumors were excluded, and all five pediatric intradural tumors underwent unilateral hemilaminectomy. Four patients were aged 13-16 years. Early postoperative MRI demonstrated gross-total resection in three patients, near-total resection in one, and subtotal resection in one. In the latter patient, a greater than 80% reduction in motor-evoked potential amplitude prompted termination of the index procedure without tumor resection. An unplanned second operation was performed 7 days later, but similar monitoring deterioration limited resection to subtotal removal. The child experienced transient quadriparesis after both procedures; both episodes resolved before discharge. Stereotactic radiotherapy was subsequently administered. During a median follow-up of 26 months (range, 18-84 months), no tumor-related reoperation or clinically detected deformity or instability requiring bracing, referral, or fusion was documented.
Unilateral hemilaminectomy provided surgical access for pediatric intradural tumors while preserving the contralateral posterior elements. However, the small, predominantly adolescent cohort, absence of systematic standing radiographs, and limited follow-up preclude conclusions regarding subtle or late deformity or comparative superiority.

PMID:
42547650
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 04 Aug 2026.

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