Submandibular approach to anterior C2-C4 disc space in the management of an aneurysmal bone cyst

We report a case of a ten-year-old girl with a large posterior neck mass, an aneurysmal bone cyst involving the upper cervical spine.Patient underwent tumor resection through a posterior approach and required subsequent anterior fusion and instrumentation of C2-C4 for stability. We describe a challenging transcervical submandibular approach that allowed anterior cervical discectomy with placement of interdisc spacer using pre-contoured allograft and plating to achieve anterior fusion. We demonstrated that this approach is safe and effective in children, and provides excellent visualization for direct access with a surprisingly large operative field for instrumentation.