How I do it: the trans-laminar, facet-joint sparing minimal invasive approach for ventral dural repair in spontaneous intracranial hypotension—a 2-dimensional operative video

BACKGROUND: We describe the minimally invasive, facet-sparing postero-lateral approach to the thoracic spine for a ventral dural repair in a patient with intracranial hypotension secondary to a spontaneous dural breach. METHODS: We performed a minimally invasive approach using a short paramedian posterior skin incision followed by a 10 × 10 mm targeted trans-laminar approach, to achieve a microsurgical repair of a symptomatic ventral dural defect causing severe disability. CONCLUSION: The facet-sparing postero-lateral approach is safe and effective in the surgical management of thoracic dural tears, even in the most anterior ones, and avoids the traditional costotransversectomy. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00701-021-04987-w.