Blood transfusions after thoracoscopic anterior thoracolumbar vertebrectomy.

Purpose: Anterior vertebral body reconstruction (AVBR) for trauma or tumor involves corpectomy and placement of hardware to reconstitute the anterior weight-bearing stability of the spine. We report our clinical experience with thoracoscopic techniques for AVBR.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients who underwent thoracoscopic AVBR surgery for expandable cage placement. We report pathological condition, patient age, vertebral body level, operative time, estimated blood loss (EBL), and need for blood transfusion.

Results: Twenty-one expandable cages were placed thoracoscopically in 15 fractures and six tumors. In fracture cases, mean age, operative time, EBL, and transfusion rate were 36.7 years, 4.9 h, 543 mL, and 7% (1/15), respectively. In tumor cases, mean age, operative time, EBL, and transfusion rate were 61.9 years, 4.9 h, 758 mL, and 17% (1/6), respectively.

Conclusions: Thoracoscopic AVBR with expandable cages can be accomplished safely with acceptable operative times and blood loss and low transfusion rates.