The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society
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There have been no previous studies looking at the outcome of surgical decompression (+/-stabilization) for various grades of epidural spinal cord compression (ESCC) due to spinal metastases. ⋯ Surgery can achieve improvements in neurology even in higher grades of cord compression. There is a trend toward more complications and worse survival with spinal surgery in patients with higher grades of compression.