Here are seven key spine studies Becker’s has reported about since Oct. 13:
1. Interventional pain management physicians performing sacroiliac joint fusions had no complications when supervised and trained by a spine surgeon and low complication rates without surgeon oversight, according to a study published in the November 2025 issue of The Spine Journal.
2. A clinical study of 30 patients found OrtoWell’s hydraulic vertebral distractor system was confirmed to be safe and effective. The study, published in Medical Devices: Evidence and Research in October, assessed the system’s use in patients treated in Germany from 2018 to 2023. There were no device-related complications, and surgeons reported consistent positive feedback on precision, stability and control.
3. The Synergy disc was statistically superior to anterior cervical discectomy and fusion after two years, according to a U.S. investigational device exemption study. The multicenter study enrolled 175 patients with one-level symptomatic cervical degenerative disc disease. Researchers found the Syngergy disc saw improvements in neck pain, arm pain, and Neck Disability Index scores at 24 months compared to ACDF.
4. Expandable cage designs are effective in spinal fusion, but devices that address more than just disc height alone have additional benefits, according to a study published in the October issue of the International Journal of Spine Surgery. The study included 75 patients who had navigation-assisted minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion with expandable cages. Thirty-five of those patients had expandable cages that only increased disc height, and 40 had cages that addressed height and lodorsis.
5. Expandable titanium cages in anterior cervical discectomy and fusion are safe and effective, according to a study in the Oct. 2025 issue of the Journal of Spine Surgery. In a retrospective study at New York City-based Weill Cornell Medicine/New York Presbyterian, researchers evaluated 44 ACDF patients between 2019 and 2023 who had an expandable titanium cage implanted. Clinical outcomes showed significant improvements in numerical ratings scale for arm pain, neck pain and neck disability index.
6. Minimally invasive robot-assisted pars fracture surgery enabled most adolescent patients to return to sports in as little as six weeks, researchers with New York City-based Hospital for Special Surgery found. The retrospective study focused on nine nine adolescent patients with lumbar spondylolysis who had robot-assisted pars repair at HSS using the single-screw technique. After surgery they were in an eight-week physical therapy program to reintroduce them to sport-specific exercises.
7. Patients living with dementia experience a higher hazard for adverse events related to elective lumbar spine surgery, according to a recent study. The study examined more than 100,000 Medicare beneficiaries to assess outcomes following elective lumbar spine surgery and found that patients with dementia were more likely to suffer adverse events including mortality and intensive postoperative interventions compared to patients without dementia.
