In the years sin e publication of the Hrst edition of SurgicaL Approaches to the Spine, a revolution has taken place in spinal surgery, Spinal technology has exploded, thereby in creasing the need for multiple access sites to the spine. The book was originally written because the spinal surgeon sometimes lacked the ability to approach the spine with the ideal procedure. As a result, spinal problems were often handled with a posterior approach when the treatment theories and biomechanical considerations of the spine dictated an anterior approach. Then John O'Brien and other anterior surgeons...