Surgery for multiple myeloma of the spine

Abstract

We report on 12 surgically treated patients with myeloma of the spine. Pain relief was obtained in all the patients. Paraparesis was present in 5 patients. All 12 patients subsequently became ambulatory. The average postoperative survival was 2.3 years. Eight patients, all without symptoms from the treated lesion, survived for more than 1 year. Our experience suggests that surgical treatment of multiple myeloma of the spine may be rewarding.