Clinical Experience of Fluroscopy Guided Percutaneous Transpedicular Biopsy of Spinal Lesion

Abstract

Introduction: The diagnosis of the spinal lesions often puts the clinician in dilemma. The definite diagnosis is obviously needed for the proper management of the disease. The wrong diagnosis not only imposes the adverse effects, but sometimes may lead to the disabling conditions and even prove to be life threatening. This study is aimed at evaluating the need of fluoroscopy guided percutaneous transpedicular biopsy for establishing the proper diagnosis and find the diagnostic yield.
Methods: This is the descriptive cross-sectional study conducted over the period of 10 years in the Upendra Devkota Memorial National Institute of Neurological and Allied Sciences among the patients who underwent transpedicular biopsy for various spinal lesions.
Results: Among the 77 cases, 38 (49%) of the lesions on MRI were single level whereas 39 (51%) of the lesions were multiple. Most of the lesions were diagnosed as the non-tubercular infection 30 (42%), followed by the osteoporotic fractures and malignancy in 18 (25%) and 15 (21%) respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the radiology with the background of clinical scenario was 79.5% and 90.9% respectively. The diagnostic yield of the biopsy was 93.5%.
Conclusions: The transpedicular biopsy of the spinal lesion is the must for the proper diagnosis and treatment plan of such cases. The change in the diagnosis after biopsy is often possible which will drastically alter the treatment plan.

Keywords: fluoroscopy guided; metastasis; spinal lesions; transpedicular biopsy; tuberculosis.