Minimally invasive tubular retractor system for adequate exposure during surgical obliteration of spinal dural arteriovenous fistulas with the aid of indocyanine green intraoperative angiography Case report

Effective surgical obliteration of spinal dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVFs) traditionally requires laminectomy or hemilaminectomy to allow intradural exposure and occlusion of the draining vein. The authors present successful treatment of a spinal DAVF by using a tubular retractor system to provide minimally invasive exposure at the L5-S1 level adequate for both microsurgical treatment and intraoperative indocyanine green angiography. (http://thejns.org/doi/abs/10.3171/2012.4.SPINE12152)