Insurance carriers across the country are scaling back the coverage indications for spine surgery, which could potentially leave spine surgeons without the ability to treat thousands of patients who could benefit from surgical intervention. Spine surgeons and societies have been working to increase awareness of the efficacy of surgical intervention for the appropriate patients, but it hasn't been an easy road.

In a recent study, researchers found that the number of neurological complications associated with cervical laminoplasty on patients with ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament were greater than they anticipated, according to an article published in Spine.

Richard A. Kaul, MD, founder of New Jersey Spine and Rehabilitation in Pomptom Lakes, recently launched a program called Project Backbone, which provides free consultation, pain management intervention and minimally invasive spine surgery to veterans of the recent military action in Iraq and Afghanistan. He discusses five points on treating military veterans.

The success rates of total disc arthroplasty for military patients is now approaching 80 percent, according to a new study published in The Journal of Spinal Disorders & Techniques.

Hospital-based multidisciplinary intervention may not be better than brief intervention to increase return to work and improve health in patients with low back pain, according to a study published in Spine.

Thomas Zdeblick, MD, a spine surgeon and chairman of the department of orthopedics and rehabilitation at the University of Wisconsin in Madison who co-authored three studies with Medtronic and received the highest-known physician payments from the company at $21 million, is defending his financial relationship and disclosure policy with Medtronic, according to a Wisconsin State Journal report.

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients may have a higher prevalence of osteopenia and deranged bone quality, which could contribute to the etipathogenesis of spinal deformities in those patients, according to a study published in Spine.

A panel of spine experts is calling for surgeons to re-examine and reduce the use of recombinant bone morphogenic protein-2 in an editorial published in a special edition of North American Spine Society's The Spine Journal, which focuses on rhBMP-2.

A barrage of lawsuits regarding off-label use for Medtronic's Infuse bone morphogenic protein product may be right around the corner, according to various news sources.

KARL STORZ has released the VITOM System for better visualization during spine and small joint applications, according to a company news release.