Treatment of Spinal Neurinoma in Germany
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Spinal neuromas (schwannomas) are benign tumors that grow from the spinal nerve sheath cells. These neoplasms slowly increase in size, but sooner or later they cause neurological symptoms. Spinal neuromas are treated with surgery, and radiation therapy is a less commonly used treatment option. You are welcome to visit the Booking Health website to find out the cost of treatment in Germany and receive medical services abroad.
Content
- Treatment principles for spinal neuromas
- Surgical treatment for spinal neuromas
- Radiation therapy for spinal neuromas
- Why to undergo your spinal neuroma treatment in Germany?
- The cost of treatment in Germany for spinal neuromas
Treatment principles for spinal neuromas
If a spinal neurinoma is accidentally detected, a patient does not require any treatment. If the tumor is asymptomatic, doctors will only monitor it.
The following are indications for the treatment of neurinomas in German hospitals:
- a rapid growth of a spinal cord tumor;
- a large neoplasm;
- the presence of neurological symptoms.
If there are indications for treatment, the patient is recommended for microsurgical tumor resection. This is a standard treatment method that is chosen in most cases. If there are contraindications to surgery, radiation therapy can be used as an alternative treatment option. Its results are worse as the risk of tumor recurrence is higher and the symptoms do not regress immediately or completely.
Surgical treatment for spinal neuromas
Doctors at German Neurosurgery Centers successfully perform operations to remove spinal cord neuromas. This is the main method for treating the disease.
The task of the operation is the total removal of the spinal cord tumor, if possible with the preservation of the nerve roots. Even the removal of a spinal nerve root rarely results in a neurological deficit because the adjacent spinal nerves take over its function.
Surgical approaches can be different and depend on the parameters of the tumor, namely at what level it is located, whether it grows from the anterior or posterior roots, and what size it has reached. German doctors perform a laminectomy or a hemilaminectomy (removal of two or one vertebral arch) whenever possible. But still, sometimes it may be necessary to partially or totally remove the facet joint (a facetectomy).
Surgical treatment in Germany is carried out under neuromonitoring and ultrasound guidance to completely remove the tumor with a minimal risk of complications.
As a result of the treatment of neurinomas in German hospitals, doctors usually manage to perform a complete (total) resection. The disease rarely recurs, and neurological disorders usually regress after surgery.
Following surgery to remove spinal cord tumors, patients can undergo their rehabilitation in German hospitals. It starts literally the next day after the operation. Patients are activated as soon as possible. How quickly they can start walking depends on how the operation is performed, but in any case, it should be done as early as possible. Patients train using suspension systems and robot-assisted simulators and receive physiotherapy, massage, and drug therapy. After a few weeks, most patients can return to their normal lives, and after a few months, almost all neurological symptoms disappear.
Radiation therapy for spinal neuromas
Radiation therapy is not considered the primary treatment for spinal cord tumors. This treatment option can be used in the following cases:
- contraindications to surgery, for example, severe concomitant diseases of the internal organs;
- tumor recurrence after the completion of primary treatment;
- incomplete removal of the tumor and its continued growth;
- refusal of the operation.
Doctors at German hospitals use stereotactic body radiation therapy to irradiate the spinal cord and spine. This type of radiation therapy allows them to destroy the spinal cord schwannoma in a minimum number of sessions, namely from 1 to 5. Whenever possible, irradiation is carried out in one procedure if it is safe.
Stereotactic radiation therapy for spinal cord tumors differs from standard radiation options in its higher accuracy and low risk of complications. Therefore, this particular treatment option is used in German hospitals. The beams enter the patient's body from different angles. Subsequently, they converge on the spinal cord tumor, which receives a large dose of radiation and dies. At the same time, healthy tissues through which radiation passes receive a very low dose of radiation since it is evenly distributed over a large area.
Why to undergo your spinal neuroma treatment in Germany?
Any country in the world has Neurosurgery Centers. Surgery and radiation therapy are also available everywhere. However, many patients prefer to go to Germany because the treatment there is less traumatic, safer, and more effective. There are a few reasons for you to choose Germany.
Accurate diagnostics. Doctors in German hospitals determine the boundaries, sizes, exact localization of a neurinoma, and the number of tumors. They choose an optimal surgical approach for its removal and also plan the operation in such a way as to preserve the functions of the spinal nerve roots.
Minimally invasive surgical approaches. In some cases, doctors may perform minimally invasive surgery to remove the neurinoma. Doctors in Germany perform a hemilaminectomy, during which they remove only one vertebral arch instead of two. As a result, less muscle is dissected and less bone tissue is resected. The stability of the spine is maintained, and the terms of postoperative recovery for patients are reduced.
Dynamic spine stabilization. In some cases, doctors have to resect a significant amount of bone tissue to approach the tumor, as a result of which the stability of the spine may be impaired. In such cases, doctors usually resort to rigid (fixed) stabilization when two vertebrae are connected to each other. This approach, however, increases the load on the adjacent spinal segments, so degenerative changes will develop in them over time. Dynamic spinal stabilization systems are implanted in Germany to prevent these complications. They keep the spine mobile, preventing any disease of the adjacent segments.
Safe operations. The doctors at German Neurosurgery Centers use state-of-the-art equipment and new technologies, such as surgical microscopes, intraoperative ultrasound diagnostics, and intraoperative neuromonitoring, to safely remove spinal cord neurinomas. If you opt to undergo your treatment in Germany, the risk of developing a neurological deficit after surgery will be close to zero.
Complete tumor removal. In the vast majority of cases, German neurosurgeons manage to remove the neuroma completely, which can be confirmed by a postoperative MRI. After a total resection, the risk that the neuroma will develop in the same place again is negligible. You can undergo your treatment in Germany if you want to get rid of your disease forever and not have to undergo revision surgical procedures or radiation therapy in the future.
Treatment of complex cases. Spinal neuromas are usually small, benign, and single. However, some clinical cases are much more complicated than standard ones. 20% of patients have hourglass-shaped tumors that grow through the intervertebral foramen. In patients with neurofibromatosis type 2, spinal neuromas are more aggressive, often multiple and large, grow faster, and cause more severe symptoms. Even in such cases, doctors manage to remove tumors completely in 75% of cases. The remaining patients undergo a subtotal resection followed by monitoring and radiation therapy in the case of tumor recurrence or continued growth.
New types of radiation therapy. Doctors in Germany provide the most recent types of irradiation, which can destroy neuromas in the spinal cord and brain in a single session, have a low risk of developing post-radiation complications, and have a 15% chance of tumor recurrence after 5 years of monitoring.
The cost of treatment in Germany for spinal neuromas
The prices in Germany vary in different hospitals. The cost also depends on which treatment method will be used.
You can find the cost of treatment in Germany on the Booking Health website. Our website presents the real prices at which you can choose a medical care program for your preferred dates. When you make your appointment through Booking Health, the cost of treatment in Germany will be lower for you than if you contact the Neurosurgery Center directly. The prices for medical services will be reduced due to the lack of taxes for foreign patients. When you choose a medical care program through our website, you will receive a package of services for your trip arrangements. We will book hotel and airline tickets for you, help you prepare the necessary documents, and meet you at the German airport and take you to the Neurosurgery Center by car.
Authors:
The article was edited by medical experts, board-certified doctors Dr. Sergey Pashchenko and Dr. Vadim Zhiliuk. For the treatment of the conditions referred to in the article, you must consult a doctor; the information in the article is not intended for self-medication!
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