Some spine and orthopedic technologies are more hype, but others are showing clear improvements in processes and outcomes.
Spine surgeon Brian Gantwerker, MD, and orthopedic surgeon Brian Nwannunu, MD, discussed the technologies that are proving themselves the most on a June 11 panel at Becker’s Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management-Driven ASC + The Future of Spine Conference in Chicago.
Question: Are there specific procedure types where next-gen tech clearly outperforms conventional approaches versus others where the data is still too thin to justify the premium?
Dr. Brian Nwannunu Texas Joint Institute (McKinney): I believe that robotics, or the implementation of robotics with surgery using CAT scans or MRI, has allowed us as surgeons to put our implants in way better … and we don’t have as many outliers as we used to. We can put in implants a lot more balanced, so patients immediately feel pain relief recovery, are getting up and moving, and I don’t think that that can be argued with.
But, I do also understand that certain people who have been doing cases for 30 years may not want to adopt new technology because it’s a learning curve. There is some literature out that shows that folks that have not used over, I believe, like 100 robotic surgeons, or so, have a higher complication rate, and so those patients, or those surgeons, hands, there can be an initial downside effect of it.
But for those that have trained, most of those young surgeons in residencies and fellowships now, robotics is a part of the training now and that learning curve has already been passed.
Dr. Brian Gantwerker (The Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles): For young people with degenerative disc disease … I think artificial disc and motion preservation is a great way to go. I know for a long time, if you had recurrent disc herniations you probably got a fusion, and then they end up having 15 more spine surgeries down the road. Now we have better technology that approaches things with more motion preservation. It’s not perfect but compared to having another surgery two later versus in 15 years, that’s much better. That’s a better morbidity action road table in my opinion, and I think overall we’re getting better at predicting who’s going to have problems down the road, but everyone’s different.
We shouldn’t get lost in the coolest and newest, and make sure that if something doesn’t make sense to do a gut check. You just have to be careful.
At the Becker’s 32nd Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs, taking place October 29-31 in Chicago, ASC leaders, surgeons and healthcare executives will explore strategies to drive growth, enhance operational performance, navigate reimbursement challenges and prepare for the future of ambulatory surgery. Apply for complimentary registration now.
