Spine

HealthPartners issued a positive coverage decision for minimally invasive sacroiliac joint fusions.

Frank Phillips, MD, is program director for the section of minimally invasive spine surgery at Chicago-based Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush and Rush University Medical Center's director of the spine surgery division.

Orthopedic and spine surgery is headed to the outpatient setting. However, surgeons must ensure their patients receive high quality care to return home within 24 hours of surgery, if possible without opioids.

Andrew Gitkind, MD, vice chairman and medical director of New York City-based Montefiore Spine Center, outlines the department's recent growth and its goals for the coming year.

Jason E. Lowenstein, MD, director of the Scoliosis and Spinal Deformity Center at Morristown, N.J.-based Atlantic Health System, discusses the department's goals to expand treatment options in the future.

Here are nine spine and neurosurgeons making headlines.

Gender is not associated with surgical outcomes after minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion, according to a study in Clinical Spine Surgery.

T.S. Kanaka, PhD, 86, passed away Nov. 14. She was the first female neurosurgeon in Asia and the third female neurosurgeon in the world, The Hindu reports.

Frank Shen, MD, chief of the division of orthopedic surgery at Charlottesville-based University of Virginia Health System, shares his insight on spine surgeon leadership, challenges ahead and the best opportunities for growth.

Reston-based Virginia Spine Institute's Colin Haines, MD, and Christopher Good, MD, performed a spine surgery combining endoscopic and robotic-guided technology.