Combined laminectomy and thoracoscopic resection of a dumbbell neurofibroma: technical case report.

Objective: We describe combined laminectomy and thoracoscopic surgery for removal of a dumbbell thoracic spinal tumor to demonstrate the feasibility of such an approach.

Methods: We present the case of a 29-year-old man who developed chest pain and spinal cord compression from a thoracic dumbbell neurofibroma. Methods: Surgical approaches for benign nerve sheath tumors that extend from the spinal cord into the thoracic cavity include combined laminectomy and thoracotomy either in one or two stages, or a lateral extracavitary approach involving laminectomy, facetectomy, and rib resection in a single stage. We performed a combination laminectomy and thoracoscopic tumor resection in a single stage with good results.

Conclusions: This technique has not been reported previously in the literature. It has the advantage of avoiding the potential morbidity of a thoracotomy, as well as the extensive muscle dissection and pain associated with the lateral extracavitary approach.