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BACKGROUND The growing interest in minimally invasive approaches to the thoracic and lumbar spine is mostly secondary to the high surgical morbidity and complication rates associated with conventional open approaches. OBJECTIVE To report the largest series of patients with thoracic and lumbar vertebral osteomyelitis who underwent multilevel corpectomies using the minimally invasive lateral (MIL) retropleural and retroperitoneal approaches. METHODS The surgical techniques of the MIL approaches are illustrated and described in detail. The MIL retropleural approach was performed in 9, MIL retroperitoneal approach in 3, and combined MIL retropleural/retroperitoneal approach in 2 patients with thoracic, lumbar and thoracolumbar vertebral osteomyelitis, respectively. RESULTS Multilevel corpectomies were successfully accomplished in all 14 patients using the MIL approaches (11 patients with 2-level corpectomy, 2 patients with 3-level corpectomy, and 1 patient with extension of a 3-level corpectomy to 6 levels). Correction of kyphotic deformity was achieved postoperatively in all 14 patients and remained stable with no proximal junctional kyphosis for a median of 10 months of follow-up on 10 patients; 4 patients were lost to follow-up after discharge from hospital. Posterior instrumentation was performed in 12 patients to further support the spinal alignment. CONCLUSION The MIL retropleural and retroperitoneal approaches described in this manuscript are feasible and safe in achieving multilevel corpectomies, anterior column reconstruction, and spinal deformity correction is patients with thoracic, lumbar, and thoracolumbar vertebral osteomyelitis.