25th February 2025

A 55-year-old gentleman with metastatic melanoma presents with a one-week history of worsening back pain

A 55-year-old gentleman with metastatic melanoma presents with a one-week history of worsening back pain, progressive bilateral leg weakness and new faecal incontinence. He also complains of some lower abdominal pain and difficulty passing urine and is found to have 750 ml residual on a bedside bladder scan. An MRI of the whole spine reveals multi level metastatic deposits, with multilevel vertebral fractures and two points of spinal cord compression, at T4 and L3. He has not yet been referred to the spinal surgery team or oncology team.

Which of the following would not form part of your emergency management of this patient with confirmed malignant spinal cord compression?

Select the SINGLE most appropriate option from the list below. Select ONE option only.