Spinal cord tumour surgeries represent some of the most complex and high-risk procedures in neurosurgical and anaesthetic practice. The delicate anatomy of the spinal cord, the potential for catastrophic neurological injury, and the demanding physiological perturbations during surgery necessitate a thorough and nuanced anaesthetic approach. Key perioperative issues include pre-operative evaluation of neurological and cardiopulmonary status, meticulous airway management, prevention and control of intraoperative blood loss, safe patient positioning and optimisation of intraoperative neuromonitoring. Post-operative concerns include airway safety, pain management and vigilant neurological observation. This comprehensive review presents a detailed understanding of anaesthetic concerns in spinal cord tumour surgery, addressing pre-operative, intraoperative and post-operative domains, with a focus on integrating recent advancements in enhanced recovery, pharmacology and intraoperative neuromonitoring. For this review, reference articles were obtained through searches in PubMed, Medline, Ovid and Google Scholar using search items ‘anaesthesia for spine surgeries’, ‘spine tumour surgeries’, ‘anaesthesia in prone position, ‘pain management in spine surgeries’, and ‘intraoperative neuromonitoring anaesthetic concerns’.
Chatterjee et al. (2026) studied this question.