Ventral Subaxial Cervical Access Using Tailored Access Osteotomies, A Cadaveric Study.

Background: Ventral lesions of the subaxial cervical spine are challenging because approaches must circumvent endodermal and neurovascular structures.

Objective: To use cadaveric study to describe 4 posterolateral approaches to the ventral subaxial cervical spine with various facilitating techniques and osteotomies.

Methods: Three cadaveric specimens of the cervical spine were sequentially subjected to multilevel laminectomy (Type 1), transfacet (Type 2), transpedicular (Type 3), and extreme lateral transforaminal (Type 4) approaches.