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Epidural Balloon Placement for Protection of the Spinal Canal During Cryoablation of Paraspinal Lesions

A Correction to this article was published on 20 February 2018

This article has been updated

Abstract

Ablation of paraspinal lesions close to the spinal canal and neuroforamina requires protective measures in order to protect the spinal cord and nerve roots. Various methods of protection have been previously described including infusion of saline and CO2. Regardless, neuromonitoring should be adjunctively performed when ablating spinal lesions close to neuronal structures. Balloon protection has been previously described during ablation of renal masses. The benefit of balloon protection in paraspinal mass ablation is it physically displaces the nerve roots as opposed to CO2 or saline which has the potential to insulate but because of its aerosolized or fluid nature may or may not provide definitive continuous protection throughout an ablation. This report details three paraspinal lesions, two of which were successfully ablated with the use of a balloon placed in the epidural space to provide protection to the spinal cord and nerve roots.

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Change history

  • 20 February 2018

    In the published article the first sentence under the section heading Case Reports (“This study was conducted with the institutional review board approval and complied with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.”) is incorrect. That sentence should be replaced with: “Case reports are exempt from IRB approval at the authors’ institution. This study complied with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.”

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Correspondence to Jeffrey Forris Beecham Chick.

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The authors whose names are listed immediately below certify that they have NO affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements), or nonfinancial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Chick, J.F.B., Srinivasa, R.N., Johnson, E. et al. Epidural Balloon Placement for Protection of the Spinal Canal During Cryoablation of Paraspinal Lesions. Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol 41, 350–354 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00270-017-1815-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00270-017-1815-x

Keywords

  • Epidural balloon protection
  • Cryoablation
  • Spinal tumor
  • Paraspinal mass