Spine

Expandable cages address an obvious challenge in minimally invasive spine surgery: How do surgeons place a device capable of restoring disc height through an increasingly small surgical corridor? But Lali Sekhon, MD, PhD, a spine neurosurgeon at Reno (Nev.) Orthopedic…

Deeptee Jain, MD, knows what every payer she works with pays her for every procedure she performs. She wishes she didn’t have to. Dr. Jain trained to become a spine surgeon, not to study payer contracts, collections or practice overhead.…

When Ki-Eun Chang, MD, arrived at the military hospital where he now practices, there was no endoscopic spine equipment. He was also working within a government purchasing process that he says tends to be “kind of slow on getting stuff.”…

Longevity medicine has built an industry around helping people live longer without losing the ability to live well. Robert Masson, MD, president and neurological surgeon at the Orlando, Fla.-based Masson Spine Institute, thinks spine surgeons belong in that conversation. Not…

North American Spine Society released a patient safety position statement outlining education, training and competency principles for physicians performing spine interventions. The statement was developed after a review of current training pathways and discussions with leadership from surgical and nonsurgical…

Before some patients meet a spine surgeon, they have already watched the operation. They have seen a laminectomy demonstrated on TikTok, watched surgical instruments at work and heard physicians explain why the operation they thought they needed may not be…

Researchers at New York City-based Weill Cornell Medicine and Hospital for Special Surgery identified stem cells that may contribute to ligament overgrowth in lumbar spinal stenosis, according to a study published Sept. 7 in Cell. Researchers found more of the…

Spine surgery has spent years getting smaller. David J. Park, MD, is interested in what happens when there is eventually less surgery to perform at all. Dr. Park, a clinical assistant professor of neurosurgery at Stanford (Calif.) University School of…

Aurora-based University of Colorado Anschutz received a $50 million gift to expand its cerebrospinal fluid leak program. The anonymous gift will support expanding clinical capacity, recruiting physician-scientists, advancing research, supporting innovation, enhancing physician education and developing infrastructure for spinal CSF…

Pasquale Montesano, MD, still trains hard enough that some mornings he wants to go back to bed afterward. At 73, the orthopedic spine surgeon practices Jiu-Jitsu, does 80 push-ups and about 30 squats a day, and continues operating. For Dr.…