The ever-increasing number of publications in spinal surgery makes it near impossible to even glance at all the current literature. To help surgeons find the most interesting reads, AO Spine is curating the “best” spine articles out of the Global Spine Journal, Spine, European Spine Journal, and Journal of Neurosurgery Spine. The first recommended reading lists are now available online for AO Spine plus members. A new selection will be added quarterly.
The idea came from Brandon D. Lawrence, AO Spine Community Development Commission member. Faced with the overwhelming number of papers to read, instead of simply giving up, he started looking for solutions. "Hopefully this will provide inspiration and make it easier for our colleagues," Lawrence says.
Each quarter, Lawrence, with the help of spine surgeon colleagues will report back on a handful of articles that they select as worthy of note. "These may vary widely, from breakthrough findings in the basic science lab to clinical trials or even timely reviews of literature," Lawrence explains.
The latest selection focuses on improving the treatment of patients with osteoporosis by optimizing spinal instrumentation and bone biologic health; furthering our knowledge of adult spinal deformity (ASD) by underscoring the important differences and sacrifices by either stopping our ASD constructs at L5 or extending into the pelvis as well as the profound necessity of incorporating age into our deformity correction calculations; and an age-old argument behind treating cervical radiculopathy, anterior fusion versus posterior foraminotomy.
In reviewing the journals, Lawrence was supported by our colleagues in the Middle East. “The chosen articles are of high-level evidence and have practical impact that may change the current practice of some spine surgeons," says Mohamed Abdel-Wanis. "All cover hot topics and answer previously un-answered questions, try to solve difficult problems or report long-term outcomes that were not previously reported.”
Another list of AO Spine Curated Articles published in 2020 highlights two main themes: how to optimize spinal instrumentation and avoid failures, and the importance of indications and patient follow-up in spinal surgery, both short- and long-term. This list was compiled by Lawrence with North American colleagues Matthew L. Goodwin and Jeremy D. Shaw.
But how do the surgeons make their selection; what constitutes a worthy article? "Good question!" Lawrence says. "Rather than thinking of these as the 'best' articles by any objective metric or standard, we will simply highlight articles we ourselves found particularly interesting."
We encourage you to read the five articles and decide for yourself!
(Member Plus access only)
