Spine

Expanding and modernizing training programs, as well as engaging potential surgeons earlier in their education are crucial to improving the spine and orthopedic surgeon pipeline. The number of orthopedic surgeons has steadily declined over the past few years. In 2021,…

A new study published by Eden Prairie, Minn.-based SynerFuse has shown that combining dorsal root ganglion stimulation with transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion in a single procedure is safe and feasible.  Patients in the study reported about a 70% reduction in…

The future of outpatient spine surgery is becoming more accommodating to complex spine surgery, and for one surgeon a mini-open cortical trajectory technique has helped make previously challenging cases more feasible in the ASC. Michael Burdi, MD, has leveraged this…

For decades, spine surgery has relied on some of medicine’s highest-quality research. Randomized trials. Prospective studies. Single-center investigations led by academic institutions. Those studies transformed spine care, but they also came with a limitation: They often reflected ideal conditions rather…

Austin-based Ascension Seton added custom-fabricated, patient-specific spinal implants for complex spine reconstruction, according to a June 10 news release. Rory Mayer, MD, and Alex Cruz, MD, at Ascension Texas Spine and Scoliosis, use high-resolution imaging data to design implants matched…

From the first visit to final recovery, Jeremy Smith, MD, says his job goes beyond the operating room, and he wants referring physicians to know exactly what that commitment looks like in practice. Dr. Smith, chief of spine surgery at…

Several practices and hospitals are looking to add spine surgeons to their teams. Here are 10 open positions, using LinkedIn’s job search tool. 1. Wyoming Orthopedics & Spine in Gillette seeks an orthopedic spine surgeon. 2. Rush University Medical Center…

Every week, Keven Burns, MD, sees patients who tell him some version of the same story. They thought it was just aging. The spine surgeon at the Scottsdale-based Spine Institute of Arizona hears the story from retirees who can no…

Bundled payment programs assume a level of uniformity that spine surgery patients often don’t have, and for value-based medicine to work, surgeons say that models should address the nuance. Ask Spine Surgeons is a weekly series of questions posed to…

Neurosurgery continues to advance through innovations in brain tumor treatment, cerebrovascular care, spine surgery, functional neurosurgery and minimally invasive techniques. Across the country, a select group of neurosurgeons is helping shape the field through clinical excellence, groundbreaking research, leadership and…