Percutaneous Image-Guided C-Spine Procedures

Spinal neurointerventional radiology, through image-guidance with fluoroscopy or CT, offers a wide variety of percutaneous procedures in the cervical spine for tissue diagnosis, pain management, disk procedures, and osteoporotic and neoplastic vertebral fracture treatment. Different approaches to the cervical spine, including the anterolateral, lateral, posterior, transmaxillary, and transoral, can be used, depending on the target structure and type of procedure. Due to the presence of vital and delicate structures, the knowledge of locoregional anatomy and image-guidance principles, along with a rigorous technique, is the key to safe and successful interventions. This article reviews indications, relevant anatomy, and procedural techniques of percutaneous image-guided accesses to the cervical spine.

Learning Objective: Spinal neurointerventional radiology offers a wide variety of percutaneous procedures for diagnosis and treatment of different pathologies affecting the cervical spine. Readers will be able to list indications, identify relevant locoregional anatomy, and understand image-guidance principles and procedural techniques of percutaneous image-guided accesses to the cervical spine to perform safe and successful interventions.