ABSTRACT
TRANSPERITONEAL APPROACH Surgical techniques for the anterior transperitoneal approach to the spine were described in the early nineteenth century.1 It was, however, the work of Hodgson and Stock2 on the treatment of Pott’s disease (spinal tuberculosis) that popularized the anterior approach to the thoracolumbar spine. In his 1956 article, he noted the ease with which the spinal cord could be decompressed from the anterior approach, allowing evacuation of infectious material and fusion of the spine.
