ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT01865942Updated Apr 4, 2017

Surgical Spinal Decompression of Metastatic Spinal Cord Compression, Minimal Access Versus Open Surgery

An interventional study of open surgery and Minimal access surgery in Spinal Metastases, sponsored by Rigshospitalet, Denmark. Completed at 1 site in Denmark. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 99 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2017-04-04.

Sponsored by Rigshospitalet, Denmark · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
50
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 99 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The investigators wish to evaluate the effect of minimal access spinal surgery compared to traditional open surgery spinal surgery in patients with metastatic spinal cord compression.

Minimal access surgery has been shown to bee less damaging for the tissue compared to traditional open surgery and also cause fewer wound complications, the investigators expect the above could have impact in a vulnerable patient group like patients with metastatic spinal cord compression.

Read the detailed description

Surgical Spinal Decompression of Metastatic Spinal Cord Compression, Minimal Access Versus Open Surgery. A Randomized Clinical Trial

Purpose To investigate the effect of minimal access spine surgery (MASS) compared with conventional open surgery in the treatment of patients with metastatic spinalcord compression (MSCC).

Hypotheses The group of patient's receiving MASS will have better improvement in quality after surgery compared to the group that will receive traditional open surgery. The MASS patient group will have reduction in per-operative bleeding and less wound complications needing surgical revision compered to the group of patients receiving open or traditional surgery.

Primary outcome Perioperative bleeding.

Secondary outcomes Quality of life and incidence of revision surgery.

Material and method A randomised controlled trial with a 1-year follow up will be conducted.

Sample size From previous studies and based patient files it is calculated that the mean blood loss during open surgery is 1500 ml (standard deviation 750 ml). A clinical relevant reduction in blood loss will be 400 ml corresponding to one unit of packed red blood cells.

With a significance level of 5% and a power of 80% a total of 62 patients have to be included in the study.

Most studies using QLQ-C30 as a measurement for health related quality of life (HRQL) in randomized comparison of treatment modalities in cancer patients have included between 100 and 200 patients. This includes studies where both QLQ-C30 and EQ-5D have been used. EQ-5D is widely used as a generic measurement of HRQL.

62 patients will be randomly allocated to receive either minimal invasive or open surgery. Inclusion criteria are patients with spinal metastases at level Th5-L3 who are candidates for surgery. Exclusion criteria are: Tokuhashi score ≤ 4, preoperative presumptions that something else than pedicle screws would be needed, potentially the need for sacral or iliosacral instrumentation, and patients who need more radical treatment. The QLQ-C30 (Quality of Life Cancer) will be assessed since this instrument is especially developed for use in cancer patients and will be used as a clinical measure.

Outcome measure on bleeding will be recorded during the operation. Outcome measures on quality of life will be estimated with QLQ-C30, EQ-5D and VAS-pain score. This will be recorded before operation, by time of discharge, 6 weeks and 3, 6 and 12 months after the operation. Records on wound complications leading to an intervention of revision-surgery, antibiotics or other procedures are registered at the same follow up times.

02

Conditions studied

  • Spinal Metastases

Keywords

  • spinal metastases
  • spine surgery
  • metastatic spinal cord compression
  • EQ-5D
  • HRQOL
03

In context

Spinal Cord Compression

52 studies on the registry are indexed under Spinal Cord Compression; 19 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 50 is above the median of 43 across 35 interventional studies indexed under Spinal Cord Compression.

Browse Spinal Cord Compression studies →

Lead sponsor

Rigshospitalet, Denmark is the lead sponsor of 1,007 studies on the registry; 175 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 99 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • spinal cord compression with a metastasis from Th5-L3 Tokuhashi above 4

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Need for radical treatment and not only palliative
  • Need for surgical stabilization in a region lower then L3
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(1)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Metastases

Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
50 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    open surgery

    One arm receives open surgery. In our department open surgery is considered as the standard procedure since all spine surgeons are preforming this operation.

    Procedure: open surgery

  • Active comparator
    Minimal access surgery

    We compare to well-known types of surgery for metastatic spinal cord compression. The other arm receive open surgery. In our department minimal access surgery is considered as a standard procedure but it is not preformed by all spine surgeons.

    Procedure: Minimal access surgery

Interventions

  • Procedureopen surgery

    The to surgical procedures are individually well know, but the outcome of the procedures in respect to perioperative bleeding and change in quality of life has to our knowledge not been compared.

  • ProcedureMinimal access surgery

    The to surgical procedures are individually well know, but the outcome of the procedures in respect to perioperative bleeding and change in quality of life has to our knowledge not been compared.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Bleeding

    The investigators compare the bleeding for each treatment modality during the operation.

    Time frame: intraoperative

Secondary outcomes

  1. Health related quality of life measured with questionnaire EQ-5D and QLQ-C30

    The EORTC EQ-5D health questionnaire provides a simple descriptive profile and a single index value for health status. The EORTC QLQ-C30 is a questionnaire developed to assess the quality of life of cancer patients.

    Time frame: before intervention and six months follow up

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Rigshospitalet
    Copenhagen, 2100, Denmark
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Rodriguez-Vela J, Lobo-Escolar A, Joven-Aliaga E, Herrera A, Vicente J, Sunen E, Loste A, Tabuenca A. Perioperative and short-term advantages of mini-open approach for lumbar spinal fusion. Eur Spine J. 2009 Aug;18(8):1194-201. doi: 10.1007/s00586-009-1010-0. Epub 2009 Apr 28. PubMed 19399538 ↗
  • Falicov A, Fisher CG, Sparkes J, Boyd MC, Wing PC, Dvorak MF. Impact of surgical intervention on quality of life in patients with spinal metastases. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2006 Nov 15;31(24):2849-56. doi: 10.1097/01.brs.0000245838.37817.40. PubMed 17108840 ↗
  • Kim KT, Lee SH, Suk KS, Bae SC. The quantitative analysis of tissue injury markers after mini-open lumbar fusion. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2006 Mar 15;31(6):712-6. doi: 10.1097/01.brs.0000202533.05906.ea. PubMed 16540878 ↗
  • Ringel F, Stoffel M, Stuer C, Meyer B. Minimally invasive transmuscular pedicle screw fixation of the thoracic and lumbar spine. Neurosurgery. 2006 Oct;59(4 Suppl 2):ONS361-6; discussion ONS366-7. doi: 10.1227/01.NEU.0000223505.07815.74. PubMed 17041505 ↗
09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 4, 2017, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT01865942
Responsible party
Søren Schmidt Morgen (Medical doctor, Rigshospitalet, Denmark) — Principal investigator
First posted
May 31, 2013
Start date
Aug 28, 2014
Primary completion
Jan 2, 2017
Completion
Mar 30, 2017
Last update
Apr 4, 2017

Study contacts

Søren Schmidt Morgen, MD
principal investigator · Spine Section, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Mar 2017. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion