Usefulness of transcatheter arterial embolization prior to excision of hypervascular musculoskeletal tumors

The objective of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of transcatheter arterial embolization prior to surgical excision of musculoskeletal tumors. We reviewed the records of nine patients (3 females and 6 males) who received arterial embolization prior to excision of musculoskeletal tumors in our hospital from December 2009 to April 2010. We evaluated tumor region, size, histopathology, feeding artery, embolic material, and blood loss during surgery. We compared the actual amount of intraoperative bleeding with arterial embolization to estimated amounts of bleeding without embolization predicted by three orthopedic surgeons. Arterial embolization was performed on the same day or within 5 days before surgery. Operations were performed as planned in all patients without serious complications. The amount of intraoperative bleeding was 35-4200 mL and there was significantly less bleeding with arterial embolization compared with the estimated amounts (p<0.01). Our results show that arterial embolization prior to resection of hypervascular musculoskeletal tumors reduces the amount of bleeding during surgery and contributes to patient safety.