From "awake spine" procedures to construction on new outpatient spine centers across the country, here are three areas to keep an eye on in outpatient spine surgery:
New outpatient spine centers
New York City-based Hospital for Special Surgery and Naples, Fla.-based NCH broke ground in November on a center that will offer both inpatient and outpatient care. It is slated to open in early 2025.
Meanwhile, construction began on a $123 million orthopedic and spine surgery center in Los Angeles that will feature four operating rooms and offer robotic surgery and imaging services. It will be operated by Docs Health and is expected to open in 2026.
Competing prices in the outpatient setting
The costs of some of the most common orthopedic procedures, including hip arthroscopy, ACL knee surgery and arthroscopic bicep and rotator cuff arthroscopic repair, are lower on average at orthopedic ASCs than hospital outpatient departments.
New techniques and technologies
The Oregon Health & Science University in Portland recently saw its first "awake spine" procedure — the surgical removal of a herniated disc without the use of general anesthesia — in December.
A surgery team including anesthesiologist Kevin Blaine, MD, and neurosurgeon Josiah Orina, MD, performed a minimally invasive microdiscectomy using only local spinal anesthesia.
Meanwhile, Miami Spine Specialists performed the first procedure using Captiva Spine's WatchTower navigation system in an ASC setting. The system was used by Jonathan Hyde, MD, in a minimally invasive lumbar spinal fusion in October.
It was designed with the intent of reducing radiation exposure to patients and staff and utilizes preoperative scans and imaging to provide navigation in real-time throughout the procedure.