Principles and techniques of en bloc vertebrectomy for bone tumors of the thoracolumbar spine: an overview

Oncological principles for en bloc resection of bone tumors were initially developed for tumors of the long bone by orthopedic surgical oncologists. Recently, spine surgeons have adopted these principles for the treatment of vertebral column tumors. The goal of en bloc resection is to establish a surgical margin that can be designated marginal or wide. In this article, the principles of surgical oncology for bone tumors of the spine are briefly reviewed and the different surgical approaches used to remove these tumors in an en bloc fashion are described in detail.