Resection of a cervical dumbbell schwannoma with stabilization through a single stage extended posterior approach

Abstract

Dumbbell tumors of the cervical spine can present considerable management challenges related to adequate exposure of both intraspinal and paraspinal tumor components, potential injury to the vertebral artery, and spinal stability. This video demonstrates the microsurgical removal of a large cervical dumbbell schwannoma with instrumented fusion via a single stage extended posterior approach. The video shows patient positioning, tumor exposure, and the sequence and techniques of tumor resection, vertebral artery identification and protection, and dural repair.The video can be found here: http://youtu.be/3lIVfKEcxss.