Spine surgery has evolved over centuries, beginning with Hippocratic boards and ladders, and progressing to the ability to treat spinal disorders with little tissue invasion. With the development of new imaging and surgical technology, spine procedures may now be conducted minimally invasively, with smaller incisions, improved vision, less blood loss and a faster recovery. With the advancement of spine surgery, many novel technologies, such as robotic spine surgery, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, are on the horizon to help improve pre-operative planning, surgical execution, and patient selection to ensure improved post-operative outcomes and patient satisfaction.
In the United States, over 1.5 million spinal instrumentation procedures are conducted annually. The majority of decompressions and approximately fifty percent of fusions can be performed entirely or partially using minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) techniques. MISS has demonstrated its effectiveness throughout all treatment regions of the spine, with unique sites of entry to avoid important neurovascular systems, from endonasal cervical approaches to extreme lateral lumbar interbody fusions. In order to recognize the significant advancements of the MISS technology, we have decided to launch a Frontiers in Surgery collection that focuses on the applications of MISS in the capacity to improve patient outcomes and surgical education.
We welcome high quality submissions from all aspects of this developing field including, but not limited to:
- Counselling with patients;
- Pre-operative planning;
- Pre-operative simulation of surgical procedures;
- Intra-operative navigation;
- Patient-specific implants;
- Essential Step-by-Step Techniques for MISS;
- Education of students and residents, and surgical training.
Spine surgery has evolved over centuries, beginning with Hippocratic boards and ladders, and progressing to the ability to treat spinal disorders with little tissue invasion. With the development of new imaging and surgical technology, spine procedures may now be conducted minimally invasively, with smaller incisions, improved vision, less blood loss and a faster recovery. With the advancement of spine surgery, many novel technologies, such as robotic spine surgery, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, are on the horizon to help improve pre-operative planning, surgical execution, and patient selection to ensure improved post-operative outcomes and patient satisfaction.
In the United States, over 1.5 million spinal instrumentation procedures are conducted annually. The majority of decompressions and approximately fifty percent of fusions can be performed entirely or partially using minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) techniques. MISS has demonstrated its effectiveness throughout all treatment regions of the spine, with unique sites of entry to avoid important neurovascular systems, from endonasal cervical approaches to extreme lateral lumbar interbody fusions. In order to recognize the significant advancements of the MISS technology, we have decided to launch a Frontiers in Surgery collection that focuses on the applications of MISS in the capacity to improve patient outcomes and surgical education.
We welcome high quality submissions from all aspects of this developing field including, but not limited to:
- Counselling with patients;
- Pre-operative planning;
- Pre-operative simulation of surgical procedures;
- Intra-operative navigation;
- Patient-specific implants;
- Essential Step-by-Step Techniques for MISS;
- Education of students and residents, and surgical training.
