Mr. Li is 51 years old, and about 1 year ago he developed lumbar pain and discomfort. At first, he thought he had a lumbar disc herniation and did not take any treatment measures. Two months ago, Mr. Li felt that the back pain was more severe and was accompanied by double lower limb paralysis, which was really hard to bear before he went to the local hospital. The local doctor diagnosed Mr. Li as lumbar disc herniation and gave him anti-inflammatory and pain relief and physiotherapy treatment, after a period of treatment, Mr. Li’s symptoms were still getting worse, and only then did he rush to the district Chinese hospital, and the outpatient clinic also intended to be hospitalized with the diagnosis of “lumbar disc herniation. After hospitalization, the doctor found that although Mr. Li had a lumbar disc herniation, it was not serious and the cause of Mr. Li’s lumbar pain might be other causes, and the patient was found to have a tumor in the spine after an MRI of the lumbar spine. After a series of examinations, the director of neurosurgery, Mr. Peng, concluded that Mr. Li’s low back pain with bilateral lower limb paralysis was caused by an intraspinal nerve sheath tumor. According to the report, nerve sheath tumor is a kind of tumor in the vertebral canal, which originates from the dorsal spinal nerve root. Generally speaking, the treatment for intradural tumors is mainly microsurgical resection. After communicating with the patient and family, the patient and family accepted the doctor’s suggestion of surgery. In order to reduce the damage to the patient’s vertebral plate, after discussion and research within the department, Peng decided to use the vertebroplasty technique to remove this intravertebral canal tumor for Mr. Li. The laminoplasty can protect the integrity of the normal structure of the patient’s spine and also reduce the damage to the patient,” Peng said. In the vast majority of cases, cure can be achieved through total tumor removal, and recurrence is generally rare if the tumor is surgically removed in its entirety.” After the surgical plan was developed, Peng performed the tumor resection under vertebroplasty for the patient. After cutting the patient’s vertebral plate, with the assistance of intraoperative ultrasound, the doctor accurately located the tumor. After accurate positioning, the doctor then found the tumor smoothly with the microscope, carefully separated the tumor boundary, and finally removed the tumor cleanly and completely. After the surgery, the tumor in Mr. Li’s spinal canal was successfully removed after more than two hours of surgery, and there were no other adverse complications for Mr. Li after the surgery. Peng Zhiqiang said, although the tumor in the spinal canal is not new to the neurosurgeons of the district hospital, but the surgery in the spinal canal should be very careful, if the spinal cord is accidentally damaged during the operation, the patient may suffer from paraplegia, incontinence and other sequelae; moreover, because the nerve sheath tumor is growing along the nerve, when cutting the nerve, we should also pay attention to avoid damaging other normal nerves. Through a large number of clinical practices, it has been proved that the resection of intravertebral tumors in the neurosurgery department of the district Chinese hospital has been very mature, and many patients have achieved good results after surgical treatment. Although the smooth operation is crucial for the patients, however, the patients should not neglect the post-operative recuperation even more. Peng said, “Patients need to be bedridden for two weeks after surgery and insist on wearing a lumbar brace for three months, and they are not allowed to do heavy work during these three months so as to facilitate the healing of the incised vertebral plate.” Accurate identification of intravertebral tumor and lumbar disc herniation Then why was Mr. Li’s nerve sheath tumor not diagnosed at first and mistaken for lumbar disc herniation? After the CT examination, we found that Mr. Li did have a mild lumbar disc herniation, but this was not the main cause of his back pain and bilateral lower limb paralysis,” said Peng. Later, after we had Mr. Li undergo an MR examination of his lumbar region, we realized that Mr. Li’s symptoms were indeed due to a tumor, which could not be seen by an ordinary CT examination without MR examination, and it is no wonder that Mr. Li had been diagnosed with lumbar disc herniation before.” Although both intravertebral tumor and lumbar disc herniation have symptoms of back pain and numbness of limbs, in fact, there is a difference between the two as long as attention is paid to them. Peng Zhiqiang said, generally speaking, the back and leg pain caused by intravertebral tumor is mostly manifested as night pain or rest pain, which can be alleviated after activity. In contrast, the pain caused by herniated intervertebral disc is mostly persistent, reduced when lying down and aggravated when standing and moving; secondly, the pain of lumbar disc herniation is generally manifested as sciatica on one side, while intravertebral tumor is mostly numbness and pain in both lower extremities below the sensory plane, and some of them may also have decreased muscle strength and other conditions.