Emmanuel Menga, MD, assistant professor in the department of orthopedics and rehabilitation at the University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medical Center, discusses his biggest concerns for the spine field and best opportunities for growth in the future.
Dr. Menga is a featured speaker at the Becker's 17th Annual Future of Spine + The Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference, June 13-15 in Chicago. Click here to learn more and register. For more information about exhibitor and sponsor opportunities, contact Maura Jodoin at mjodoin@beckershealthcare.com.
Dr. Menga was recently named to the inaugural "20 Under 40" list by the North American Spine Society's publication, SpineLine.
Question: What are the biggest concerns for your practice today? What keeps you up at night?
Dr. Emmanuel Menga: I manage all facets of spinal pathology including in degenerative spinal disease, spinal trauma and spinal deformity. My area of special interest [is] complex spinal deformity including idiopathic, congenital and degenerative spinal deformity. Spinal deformity surgery is associated with high complication rates. My biggest concern and what keeps me up at night is making the right decision on risk stratification and optimizing patients for these surgeries in order to minimize their risk for complication.
Q: What are you most excited about in terms of technology advancement in the spine space? Where do you see the best opportunity for growth?
EM: Over the past decade, great strides have been made towards spinal navigation surgery and disc arthroplasty. There is promising evidence to support using navigation to perform both minimal invasive surgeries and complex spinal deformity surgeries. There is opportunity for further research and for expanding the indications and use of these new technologies in our practices.
Q: Where do you see your practice growing or evolving in the next five years? What is the next step or evolution in your career?
EM: As we continue to engage in clinical and basic science research and patient-reported outcome measures to evaluate our successes and failures in patient care, I believe our findings will provide more valuable information and improve our decision-making towards nonsurgical and surgical treatment of various spinal pathologies.
Learn more about the big trends in spine at the Becker's 17th Annual Future of Spine + Spine, Orthopedic & Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference in Chicago, June 13-15, 2019. Click here
To participate in future Becker's Q&As, contact Laura at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com.