Spine Arthroplasty 9: London Calling
BY JOHN MCCORMICK, MAY 7, 2009
If any spine surgeon congress serves as a litmus test on sentiment concerning new surgical technology, the Spine Arthroplatsy Society ("SAS") meeting is the one. SAS was founded nearly 10 years ago by forward thinking surgeons and technology developers seeking to treat back conditions with restoration of normal spinal function. The SAS continues to this day seeking advanced solutions to degenerative conditions of the spine.
But was it all about motion? Interestingly, the answer is no and we don't think that is a negative.
A litmus test within a litmus test is Robin Young's Spine Technology Summit (an annual SAS prequel meeting) where companies present novel motion preserving impants and how such implants are progressing clinically.
Two years ago in Berlin, the Technology Summit's topics were classified as total disc, nucleus, interspinous process spacers, dynamic stabilization, facet and other. All related to motion preservation and each category had 5 or 6 companies presenting. This year's Technology Summit had substantially reduced the motion preservation sections. There was no dedicated section this year on nucleus or interspinous process spacers and three sections were dedicated to advanced fusion technologies such as minimally invasive ("MIS") and aging spine.
Many of the SAS clinical papers and posters were also dedicated to topics such as MIS fusion procedures and technologies, stem cells, biologics and the like.
This does not necessarily mean that the SAS is changing its tune or back peddling from motion preservation. Far from it! In fact, many of the papers and posters submitted on motion preservation were more in depth, had longer follow up and offered new frameworks compared to prior years. A good example was Rolando Garcia's and James Yue's paper on the effect of lumbar disc replacement foraminal height. Papers of this nature show that surgeons are taking motion preservation to new levels of analysis.
To us, the takeaway of this year's SAS meeting was that the apostles of motion preservation are seeking increasing clinical depth while not ignoring the potential of improving spinal fusion outcomes. A "time for brilliance" it was!
