Given the high incidence of conditions afflicting the spine, given the longer life expectancy reached by the general population and by the cancer and multitrauma patients, a wide amount of clinical data concerning spine care is collected, analyzed and published every month. High impact trials as well as smaller retrospective series may be affected by significant biases, thus impacting the resulting quality of the decision making process in the real clinical setting. In spine oncology we observe the raise of the "separation surgery" philosophy as well as carbon screw systems use, although almost no long term evidence has been published, to date. In osteoporotic spine we avail of the first conflicting evidences concerning the possible role of the hidroxyapathite coated screws, but we do not even have mid term clinical data. Major questions are still on hold concerning topics like the short "motion sparing" techniques in spine trauma and expendable cages in the aging spine. Question having an every-day dramatic practical implication and no undoubtable conclusion.
The target of our project is to produce a solid, highly reliable collection of papers, summarizing the state-of-art of what is new and what is promising and effective in spine surgery. Neurosurgeons and Orthopedic surgeons who's activity is focused on spine care will rely on these works: the main objective is to collect evidences regarding the real surgical problems we confront in our activity. Complications and pitfalls like junctional syndromes, pull-out and hardware failures, spine infections may seriously deteriorate the quality of life of the patients, the investigation of such topics falls within the center of our interests.
Submissions concerning novel techniques and approaches in spine surgery will be welcomed in this issue. A special focus is shed over their safety-effectiveness profile, in comparison to what is the recognized gold standard for the treatment of the same conditions. We suggest the author to design highly controlled clinical trials with simple and clear experimental design, in order to provide simple, easy-to-access clinical evidences: the most important and valued aspect of a submission is its practical implication.
Given the high incidence of conditions afflicting the spine, given the longer life expectancy reached by the general population and by the cancer and multitrauma patients, a wide amount of clinical data concerning spine care is collected, analyzed and published every month. High impact trials as well as smaller retrospective series may be affected by significant biases, thus impacting the resulting quality of the decision making process in the real clinical setting. In spine oncology we observe the raise of the "separation surgery" philosophy as well as carbon screw systems use, although almost no long term evidence has been published, to date. In osteoporotic spine we avail of the first conflicting evidences concerning the possible role of the hidroxyapathite coated screws, but we do not even have mid term clinical data. Major questions are still on hold concerning topics like the short "motion sparing" techniques in spine trauma and expendable cages in the aging spine. Question having an every-day dramatic practical implication and no undoubtable conclusion.
The target of our project is to produce a solid, highly reliable collection of papers, summarizing the state-of-art of what is new and what is promising and effective in spine surgery. Neurosurgeons and Orthopedic surgeons who's activity is focused on spine care will rely on these works: the main objective is to collect evidences regarding the real surgical problems we confront in our activity. Complications and pitfalls like junctional syndromes, pull-out and hardware failures, spine infections may seriously deteriorate the quality of life of the patients, the investigation of such topics falls within the center of our interests.
Submissions concerning novel techniques and approaches in spine surgery will be welcomed in this issue. A special focus is shed over their safety-effectiveness profile, in comparison to what is the recognized gold standard for the treatment of the same conditions. We suggest the author to design highly controlled clinical trials with simple and clear experimental design, in order to provide simple, easy-to-access clinical evidences: the most important and valued aspect of a submission is its practical implication.
