NASS News: Contemporary Spine Care Research Unveiled

The latest spine care research/innovations are being unveiled this week at the North American Spine Society’s (NASS) Annual Meeting in Chicago (Sept. 25-28). Among the event’s key highlights are Best Paper presentations, showcasing cutting-edge advancements in clincal research and spine-related health policy.

The Best Paper sessions span all three days of the Annual Meeting, and spotlight the work of researchers and surgeons driving spine care’s future.

• Neurologic Complications in Adult Spinal Deformity: One of the highlights will include a study assessing complication rates for patients undergoing complex 3-column osteotomies. It emphasizes that surgical decisions should focus on individual patient profiles rather than perceived risk, as no significant neurologic deficits were reported at the one-year follow-up.
• Outcomes in Minimally Invasive Spinal Fusion Techniques: This paper features the first randomized controlled trial comparing MIS-TLIF with OLIF, particularly in patients with low-grade spondylolisthesis. The findings emphasize the importance of surgical technique choice based on patient-specific conditions.
• Obesity and Spinal Surgery Outcomes: Research presented on Class 2 and 3 obesity reveals that these patients experience worse clinical outcomes and longer hospital stays following minimally invasive lumbar fusions. This highlights the need for preoperative optimization to improve postsurgical recovery.
• The Role of Cannabis in Postoperative Recovery: One of the most discussed studies examines the impact of cannabis use on postoperative opioid consumption and complication rates in cervical fusion patients. Results show that cannabis users had higher rates of opioid dependency and emergency department visits, challenging the notion that cannabis may aid in pain management.
• Spinal Fusion Strategies in Parkinson’s Patients: Research investigating the optimal surgical approach for patients with Parkinson’s disease undergoing thoracolumbar fusion found that
• more extensive fusion strategies lead to fewer hardware failures and better outcomes, challenging the traditional preference for conservative approaches in these cases.

During the Sept. 25 best paper session, The Spine Journal’s Outstanding Paper Award-winning paper, “The association of lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration with low back pain is modified by underlying genetic propensity to pain,” was presented by Pradeep Suri, M.D. The Outstanding Paper Awards were created to recognize excellence in unpublished research in spine care. The award recognizes contributions to the field of spine research, emphasizing innovation, scientific rigor and impact on clinical practice.

Best Papers provide a glimpse into the evolving practices that are shaping the future of spine care. These presentations are a cornerstone of the NASS Annual Meeting

Full List of Best Papers

Wednesday, Sept. 25:

• Does an improvement in intraoperative neuromonitoring cord data indicate a reduced risk for postoperative deficit in spine deformity surgery?
• Neurologic adverse events following 3-column osteotomy: a prospective multicenter study
• Two-year revision and adjacent segment disease after degenerative spinal fusion and impact of segmental lordosis restoration
• The impact of cannabis on opioid use and postoperative complications in cervical fusion: a population-based longitudinal cohort study
• Does cervicothoracic flexibility affect clinical outcomes in patients undergoing multilevel posterior cervical fusions?
• The association of lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration with low back pain is modified by underlying genetic propensity to pain
• Effect of elective cervical spine surgery on mental health of patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy: a CSORN study
• The dreaded false negatives – when intraoperative neuromonitoring fails to detect neural deficits associated with complex, noncord-level spinal deformity corrections
• AJCC score and hormone receptor status predicts 1-, 2-, and 5-year mortality rates in patients who undergo spine surgery for metastatic breast cancer to the spine
• Addressing the challenge of spine patient triage: development of a simple algorithm for identification of potential surgical candidate
• Outcomes of 3-level cervical disc arthroplasty comparing with 3-level ACDF

Thursday, Sept. 26, 8 a.m.-9:30 a.m.:

• MRI-based endplate bone quality score as a predictor of cage subsidence following oblique lumbar interbody fusion
• Impact of serum albumin levels on lumbar spine surgery outcomes: An MSSIC study
• Posterior corrective surgery for type II congenital kyphosis: SRS-Schwab Grade 4 osteotomy or vertebral column resection?
• Comparison of clinical and radiologic outcomes between oblique lumbar interbody fusion and minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion in spondylolisthesis, a randomized controlled trial
• Class 2/3 obesity leads to significantly worse outcomes following minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion
• Incidence of postoperative urinary retention and associated risk factors in a male population after minimally invasive spine surgery
• Go big or go home? What to do with Parkinson’s patients needing thoracolumbar fusion
• Predictors of clinical failure after endoscopic lumbar spine surgery during the initial learning curve
• Is MIS-ATP lumbosacral fusion safe in patients with aortoiliac calcification?
• Surgical resection of spinal chordoma: overall survival and local recurrence

Friday, Sept. 27, 7:30 a.m.-9 a.m.:

• Health economic analysis of neurologically intact thoracolumbar A3 and A4 fractures is dominant in supporting surgery over nonsurgical treatment
• The relationship between paraspinal muscle atrophy and degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis at the L4/5 level
• Survival analysis of patients with metastatic osteosarcoma: a surveillance, epidemiology, and end results population-based study
• Cobb angle between standing and supine position in compression fracture
• Physical activity intervention to improve surgical spine outcomes (PASS Trial)
• Defining the normative level of functional low back pain disability in the American population: A crowdsourced evaluation of the Oswestry disability index
• Performance Comparison between Hounsfield Units and DEXA in Predicting Lumbar Interbody Cage Subsidence after Circumferential Lumbar Fusion
• Epidemiology of recreation-related cervical and thoracic fracture
• Clinical and patient-reported outcomes of adult spinal deformity surgery with 10-year follow-up
• Novel MRI-based pedicle bone quality score independently predicts pedicle screw loosening after degenerative lumbar fusion surgery

NASS is a global multidisciplinary medical organization dedicated to fostering the highest quality, ethical, evidenced-based and value-based spine care by promoting education, research, and advocacy. NASS is comprised of nearly 8,000 members from several disciplines, including orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, physiatry, radiology, anesthesiology, research and physical therapy.