Neck, low back pain, should be alert to spinal tumors

Spinal tumors are not uncommon in recent years and are classified as primary and secondary. Primary tumors can be divided into primary spinal tumors, primary malignant bone tumors, primary spinal tumors with malignant tendency, primary benign spinal appendage tumors, and primary malignant spinal appendage tumors. Secondary tumors are mostly malignant and can be metastatic from malignant tumors in any other part of the body. Sixty percent of them come from breast cancer, prostate cancer, and cancers of the lungs, kidneys, thyroid, and colon. Metastases are usually multiple. However, it is not uncommon to invade single vertebrae at the beginning. It should be especially emphasized that, for those whose primary tumors are located in breast, prostate, lungs, kidneys and thyroid glands and colon, the spread of tumors is limited to a single vertebrae accounts for more than half of the cases, which provides the possibility of surgical resection. Zhang Shuncong, spine specialist of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, metastatic tumors can be osteogenic or osteoblastic, prostate tumors tend to be sclerotic (but the sclerotic area of the tumor can be seen to be partially osteolytic), and breast, lung, kidney and colon cancers are mostly osteolytic metastases. Surgical treatment of malignant spinal tumors, especially metastatic tumors, is often opposed by some people on the ground that surgery “cannot change the prognosis of patients, and it is futile to increase the pain of patients”, which is a kind of outdated and one-sided opinion. With the development of spinal bone fixation technology and the progress of tumor chemotherapy, surgical treatment can bring a series of benefits for patients. With the development of spinal internal fixation technology and the progress of tumor chemotherapy, surgical treatment can bring a series of benefits to patients. After surgical resection of spinal tumors, strong internal fixation, supplemented by postoperative chemotherapy or radiotherapy, can cure part of the patients, or make a large part of the patients to survive painlessly for several months to several years, and improve the quality of life of the patients in their lifetimes. The recovery of incomplete paraplegia after strong internal fixation and decompression can reduce the workload of family members. Indications for surgery: 1. The patient has severe pain that cannot be controlled satisfactorily by radiotherapy, etc. 2. The patient has symptoms of spinal cord compression, and surgical decompression should be performed as soon as possible before the appearance of complete paraplegia, so that the paraplegia can be expected to recover completely.