Introduction: In the management of vertebral hemangioma (VHs), a conventional surgical approach may cause a huge amount of blood loss leading to coagulopathy and may even result in death. A multimodal approach, consisting of transarterial embolization, percutaneous ethanol injection, and vertebroplasty, allows for circumventing these dreaded complications. In this retrospective case series, we depict the results of multidisciplinary approach for treatment of VHs. Materials and Methods: The variables of the patients who were treated for VH between June 2015 and September 2019 were incorporated. Preintervention considerations: Four patients presented with nonaggressive hemangiomas, with back pain being their chief complaint. Their Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores were 61% and higher. The rest five patients had symptomatic and aggressive hemangiomas. There was neurological involvement in these patients. Their preoperative ASIA-Impairment Scale and Nurick scores ranged from B to D and 2–5, respectively. Intervention: Our intervention was broadly classified into surgical and nonsurgical. We chose a multidisciplinary approach in every case. We delivered at least two modalities in each case. The nonsurgical cases were dealt with transarterial embolization, percutaneous ethanol injection, or vertebroplasty. Surgical intervention was also integrated with other modalities, including embolization, ethanol, and/or vertebroplasty, on a case-to-case basis. Results: The follow-ups varied from 1.5 years to 6 years. All surgical cases showed E on ASIA-scale and Nurick grade 1, except for 1 case of revision which was D and 2 on ASIA and Nurick scale, respectively. The four nonsurgical patients showed an ODI score of <10% in the last assessment. Follow-up magnetic resonance imaging showed no evidence of recurring lesion. Conclusion: Our experience leads to the inference that for management of symptomatic VH, individualized multimodal approach should be an established protocol. We have experienced that acceptable lesion obliteration with lesser morbidity can be achieved by following this strategy.
Kandari et al. (Sun,) studied this question.