Total en bloc spondylectomy for the L5 metastasis of a carcinoid tumor: illustrative case.

Background: Total en bloc spondylectomy (TES) was designed to achieve oncological complete tumor resection in a vertebral compartment. Because of the special anatomy of the lumbosacral junction, TES procedure at the L5 level is a challenge, and it has been explained in few reports in the literature. Performing TES in the lower lumbar region, as normal, is accomplished by using a combined approach.