Surgical anatomy of the anterior cervical approach in sheep

Authors

  • Gabriel Oswaldo Alonso-Cuéllar Veterinary zootechnician. Training coordinator, Centro Latinoamericano de Investigación y Entrenamiento en Cirugía de Mínima Invasión (CLEMI).
  • Jaime Amdres Barreto-Perea Orthopedist. Spine surgeon, Fundación Valle de Lili. Instructor of spine courses, CLEMI.
  • Michelle Cortés-Barré Physician, Master of Education. Professor, Department of Morphology, Faculty of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. | Methodology and research advisor, CLEMI.
  • Jorge Felipe Ramírez-León Chairman, CLEMI.
  • Francisco Camacho-García Director of Research, Development, and Patents, CLEMI.

Keywords:

Experimental Model, Sheep, Cervical Spine, Anterior Approach, Anatomy

Abstract

Introduction: Although sheep’s spine has been widely used as experimental model in the development of applicable surgical techniques in human medicine, it hasn’t been described the specific anatomy of the anterior neck of the sheep for minimally invasive spine surgery anterior cervical approach. The purpose of this paper is to describe the anatomy of the anterior neck of the sheep identifying the position and relationships of the structures of importance to surgeon in anterior cervical approach.

Methods: We conducted a descriptive exploratory study in 5 sheep cadavers. Anterior necks were dissected and the diameters and position of the carotid arteries, esophagus, trachea and jugular veins measured, as well as the arrangement of the anterior muscles in each vertebral cervical level.

Results: The average position for all segments together with respect to the midline of the carotid artery and jugular vein was 23.0 mm (SD 6.477) and 34.6 mm (SD 11.066). The average diameter of carotid artery was 5.5 mm (SD 1.192) and jugular vein 9.4 mm (SD 4.394). There were no significant differences between segments for any of the two structures. The average height of intervertebral space in the ventral margin was 5.6 mm (SD 2.01).

Discussion: The sheep’s neck has been partially studied and there are still questions about viability as a model for certain spine surgical techniques. This study was able to determine the feasibility of the experimental model specifically in segments C3-C4, C4-C5 and C5-C6 for anterior cervical spine techniques.

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References

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Published

2011-08-05

How to Cite

1.
Alonso-Cuéllar GO, Barreto-Perea JA, Cortés-Barré M, Ramírez-León JF, Camacho-García F. Surgical anatomy of the anterior cervical approach in sheep. Rev. Colomb. Ortop. Traumatol. [Internet]. 2011 Aug. 5 [cited 2026 Mar. 19];25(3):280-4. Available from: https://revistasccotorg.biteca.online/index.php/rccot/article/view/722

Issue

Vol. 25 No. 3 (2011)

Section

Original research

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Sociedad Colombiana de Ortopedia y Traumatología

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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