Abstract
A quick look at the lumbar plexus from a lateral view makes the concept of safely instrumenting the lumbar interspaces and bodies from a lateral approach appear nearly impossible. There are superficial primarily sensory nerves coursing through the retroperitoneal fat and sensorimotor branches buried within the psoas muscle directly overlying the vertebral bodies and disc spaces. Understanding the plexus anatomy, the safe operative corridors, and the strategies for nerve injury avoidance is crucial to performing lateral approaches with outcomes that meet or exceed alternative surgical approaches. Here we review the normal anatomy and function of the lumbar plexus within the purview of known complications of minimally invasive lateral trans-psoas approaches along with strategies for injury avoidance and treatment.
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Skoch, J., Martirosyan, N., Baaj, A.A. (2017). Lumbar Plexus Injury: Lateral MIS Spinal Fusion. In: Wang, M., Sama, A., Uribe, J. (eds) Lateral Access Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28320-3_36
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28320-3_36
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