BACKGROUND CONTEXT: There are several prognostic scores available that intend to inform decision making for patients with spinal metastases. Many of these have not been found to reliably predict survival across the continuum of care. Recently, our…
OBJECTIVES: To describe patient-specific characteristics associated with non-operative failure leading to surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of patients treated for spinal metastases from 2005 to 2017. We deemed…
BACKGROUND: In the treatment of spinal metastases the risks of surgery must be balanced against potential benefits, particularly in light of limited life-expectancy. Patient experiences and preferences regarding decision-making in this context are…
BACKGROUND CONTEXT: The New England Spinal Metastasis Score (NESMS) was proposed as an intuitive and accessible prognostic tool for predicting survival in patients with spinal metastases. We designed an appropriately powered, prospective,…
BACKGROUND CONTEXT: We developed the New England Spinal Metastasis Score (NESMS) as a simple, informative, scoring scheme that could be applied to both operative and non-operative patients. The performance of the NESMS to other legacy scoring…
BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Studies regarding treatment of spinal metastases are critical to evidence-based decision-making. However, variation exists in how a key outcome, ambulatory function, is assessed. PURPOSE: To characterize the sources and tools …
