[History of surgical approaches into spinal canal.]

The article brings the historical survey of various surgical approaches into the spinal canal from the point of view of contemporary neurosurgery.The author comes out from the retrieval of English and American literature obtained from the University library during his study stay in Zürich. Some sources from the article are not available for Czech readers. Historical contribution of the famous Czech surgeon Maydl working at the end of last century in Vienna is emphasized. Key words: history, surgical approaches, spinal canal.