Oblique transcorporeal drilling is a new surgical technique in which the transverse
foramina with the vertebral artery and lateral aspects of the bodies of the cervical
vertebrae are exposed; it allows to drill out obliquely from the antero-lateral to
the opposite postero-lateral corner, half of one or several cervical vertebral bodies.
The technique is shortly described and its indications are discussed. It can mainly
be applied to release osteophytic compression and to remove anteriorly developed tumors.
The advantages are to work in a wide field with all important structures kept medially
and protected and to keep a sufficient portion of the vertebral bodies to preserve
the spine stability. This technique has been used in 39 cases with spondylosis in
27 cases, tumor in 11 cases and kyphosis in 2 cases including one with neurofibroma.
Results in term of decompression were excellent in all cases. Mortality was none and
morbidity was limited to a transient Horner's syndrome in almost all cases and to
a CSF leak in three cases. This technique is therefore alternative to the anterior
transcorporeal approach. In our experience, the oblique transcorporeal drilling provides
a wider and safer access to lesions located anterior to the spinal cord.
Oblique transcorporeal drilling - Spinal cord decompression - Spinal cord lesions
