microwave tumor ablation of vertebral bone metastasis: a case report

Background & importance: thermal ablation by microwave (mwa) has proven efficacy in treatment of primary and metastatic cancers. soft tissue tumors could be ablated completely using mwa. however, bony tissue metastasis particularly spinal vertebral metastasis ablation has not been reported yet. case presentation: a 50 year old male patient with primary diagnosed colon cancer that had surgical resection was recently diagnosed with metastasis to liver and spinal vertebral bone. he was referred to our pain clinic with severe non-radiating back pain. in mri imaging, hyperdensity lesions on body of l5 and t12, and in spinal canal of l1 were identified, indicating metastatic involvement. under fluoroscopy guidance, the metastatic tumor was ablated by mwa and the generator was powered to 20 watt/3 minutes in the temperature control mode. patient had no low back pain afterward. conclusion: mwa could be used to ablate vertebral bone metastasis without any complications and with good prognosis.