Surgical Anatomy and Approaches to the Anterior Thoracolumbar Spine Region

We review the surgical anatomy of the thoraco-lumbar spine region located between the eleventh thoracic and the second lumbar vertebrae (T11-L2). Anatomical features of muscular, vascular and neural structures important to surgical approaches are described in details. We also discuss surgical nuances of the transthoracic retroperitoneal and the lateral retropleural approaches. We conclude that anatomical knowledge is important to improve the efficacy and safety of surgical procedures in the thoraco-lumbar spine region.