Editor's Note The Bonati Spine Institute, based in Hudson, Florida, filed a $500 million lawsuit in federal court against the state of Florida, Business Observer April 4 reports. The lawsuit accuses the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) of wrongful shutdown, civil rights violations, conspiracy, defamation, and libel. This…

Read More

Editor's Note Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) specializing in orthopedic and spine procedures are seeing a surge in growth, Orthopedics This Week April 2 reports. An "Impact of Change Forecast" report from Sg2, a Vizient Inc company, forecasts a 12% increase in orthopedics/spine ASCs in the next 5 years and a…

Read More

Editor's Note An augmented reality headset provided a scrub team with a detailed, mixed-reality view of a microsurgical spinal procedures to streamline surgery at Cromwell Hopsital in the UK, according to a March 14 report in Fox Business News. The headset, an Apple Vision Pro, was linked to eXeX, described…

Read More

Editor's Note Spine surgeons are sounding the alarm about high numbers of unnecessary fusion surgeries, according to a March 5 report in Becker’s Spine Review. Unnecessary surgeries refer to any surgical intervention that is not needed or in the patient’s best interest. A recent report from Forbes finds that 50%…

Read More

Editor's Note Although lumbar disc herniation surgery can alleviate symptoms of back pain and even prevent disability, the costs exceed the benefits for a sizeable minority of patients, researchers write in a study published February 7 in Jama Network. To address this concern, they investigated whether machine learning algorithms that…

Read More

Editor's Note A recent double-blind, randomized controlled trial could not prove that minimally invasive sacroiliac joint fusion was any more effective than sham surgery in treating severe sacroiliac joint pain. “With these findings, there should be discussion in the medical community whether an irreversible surgical procedure with related risks and…

Read More

Editor's Note Spinal surgeons seeking a better standard of care now have an alternative to traditional scanning that exposes patients to levels of radiation equivalent to multiple X-rays. Highlighted in LA Weekly on December 19, the PathKeeper 3D optical and navigation system uses high-resolution 3D optical cameras to provide real-time…

Read More

Editor's Note A patient with Parkinson’s disease was able to walk normally again thanks to a surgical implant of an experimental spinal cord neuroprosthesis. The findings were published in the journal Nature on November 6 under the article title, "A spinal cord neuroprosthesis for locomotor deficits due to Parkinson’s disease." …

Read More

Editor's Note In a first of its kind surgical procedure, doctors have installed artificial intelligence (AI) implants in the brain of a 46-year-old man who was paralyzed from a fall on the ice, CNN September 27 reports. The AI implant formed a "digital bridge"–an idea pioneered by the French neuroscientist…

Read More

Editor's Note The American College of Surgeons (ACS), on September 12, announced a new quality improvement (QI) project that will evaluate the most effective ways to help patients safely manage postoperative pain and reduce the risk of opioid dependence. The project will be conducted in collaboration with Health Care Service…

Read More