Lumbar Corpectomy And Fusion, Lateral View

Description

Lumbar vertebral bodies and adjacent intervertebral disc spaces are aligned in profile, with the corpectomy defect bridging the anterior and middle spinal columns at a single lumbar level. An interbody implant spans between the superior and inferior vertebral endplates, occupying the space created by vertebral body resection, while the remaining posterior elements (pedicles, laminae, and spinous processes) sit posterior to the implant and define the margins of the spinal canal. Sagittal alignment is readable at a glance, with the anterior vertebral line, posterior vertebral line, and the implant’s footprint relative to the endplates presented in one fixed lateral perspective. Hardware dominates the segment. Corpectomy with fusion most often enters the discussion in the setting of burst fracture with vertebral body comminution, vertebral tumor, or osteomyelitis where anterior column support fails and deformity or neural compression is a risk. The lateral viewpoint is the one surgeons and radiologists lean on to judge implant height, endplate contact, and restoration of lumbar lordosis, and it also helps explain why subsidence can occur when the device loads cancellous bone rather than the apophyseal ring. In teaching, it clarifies the difference between removing a disc (discectomy) versus removing a vertebral body (corpectomy), and how that changes construct mechanics and fusion length. Use this illustration in spine surgery texts to accompany chapters on lumbar corpectomy techniques, in orthopedic and neurosurgical lectures on anterior column reconstruction, or in radiology teaching files to annotate postoperative alignment, implant position, and signs of loosening or subsidence on lateral imaging. Anatomical accuracy verified by SciePro's Medical Advisory Board.