Abstract
The anterior approach to the subaxial spine represents the standard approach to anterior pathologies in this region. Spreading soft tissues apart along preformed fascial compartments medial to the sternocleidomastoid muscle allows an atraumatic exposure of the ventral aspect of the spine from C2 to Th1. This approach is well tolerated and associated with low complication rates. The commonest complaints with delayed recovery are injuries to the recurrent laryngeal nerve and swallowing dysfunctions. Modifications of this approach allow direct anterior access to the neuroforamen or exposure of the vertebral artery for pathologies with extraspinal extension along nerve roots.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Chang U, Lee MC, Kim DH. Anterior approach to the midcervical spine. In: Kim DH, Henn JS, Vaccaro AR, Dickman CA, editors. Surgical anatomy and techniques to the spine. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier; 2006. p. 45–56.
Verbiest H. A lateral approach to the cervical spine: technique and indications. J Neurosurg. 1968;28:191–203.
George B, Laurian C. Surgical approach to the whole length of the vertebral artery with special reference to the third portion. Acta Neurochir. 1980;51:259–72.
Cole T, Veeravagu A, Zhang M, Ratliff JK. Surgeon procedure volume and complication rates in anterior cervical discectomy and fusions: analysis of a national longitudinal database. Clin Spine Surg. 2017;30(5):E633–9.
Gabel BC, Lam A, Chapman JR, Oskouian RJ Jr, Nassr A, Currier BL, Sebastian AS, Arnold PM, Hamilton SR, Fehlings MG, Mroz TE, Riew KD. Perioperative vision loss in cervical spinal surgery. Global Spine J. 2017;7(Suppl 1):91S–5S.
Patil CG, Lad EM, Lad SP, Ho C, Boakye M. Visual loss after spine surgery: a population-based study. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2008;33(13):1491–6.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Klekamp, J. (2019). Anterior Subaxial Approach. In: Koller, H., Robinson, Y. (eds) Cervical Spine Surgery: Standard and Advanced Techniques. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93432-7_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93432-7_16
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-93431-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-93432-7
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)