On May 7, Behrooz Akbarnia, MD, led a team of surgeons at Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego in performing two pediatric surgeries with Ellipse Technologies' MAGnetic Expansion Control System.

A multicenter retrospective review of pediatric patients who underwent spinal instrumentation to correct scoliosis published in the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery examined the surgical site infection rate for different etiologies.

Behrooz A. Akbarnia, MD, is the medical director of the San Diego Center for Spinal Disorders and is a clinical professor in the orthopedic surgery department at the University of California San Diego. He is an active member of the American Orthopedic Association, Pediatric Orthopedic Society of North America and North American Spine Society. He has served as president of the Scoliosis Research Society in 2005 to 2006. He is also the founder of Growing Spine Foundation, an organization that supports research and educational activities in the field of spine.

The FDA has granted 510(k) clearance to EOS Imaging for its updated sterEOS 3-D imaging software.

A new study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery retrospectively analyzed 124 consecutive adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients who underwent spinal fusion to compare postoperative management.

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Some patients underwent postoperative management on the hospital floor while others were managed postoperatively in the intensive care unit. Here are five statistics from the study:

•    Average age for surgery was 14 years old.
•    An average of 11 vertebral levels were fused.
•    Patients who underwent postoperative care on the hospital floor experienced significant decrease in postoperative blood tests, hospital stay days and physical therapy sessions when compared with those who were managed postoperatively in the intensive care unit.
•    Average charge for patients who were managed on the floor postoperatively was $33,121.
•    Average charge for patients managed postoperatively in the intensive care unit was $39,252.

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K. Michael Webb is the executive medical director at NeuroTexas Institute in Austin. He is also the director of the spinal disorder program at the institute. He is a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

John P. Dormans, MD, is the chief of orthopedic surgery at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He holds the Richard M. Armstrong, Jr. Endowed Chair in Orthopedic Surgery at the hospital and is a professor of orthopedic surgery, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also currently the vice president of the Scoliosis Research Society.

Artem Y. Vaynman, MD, is a neurosurgeon with Neurological Surgery in Great Neck, N.Y. He is co-chief of spine surgery at Mercy Medical Center in Rockville, N.Y., and a member of both the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and American Association of Neurological Surgeons.

The Pediatric Physician's Organization at Boston Children's Hospital took into consideration the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force's report that routine screening of children for scoliosis is more harmful than beneficial and developed a program to educate physicians about scoliosis and lessen the number of unnecessary referrals, according to a Medscape News report.

ApiFix received CE Mark for its adolescent idiopathic scoliosis treatment system, and have seen positive results from the pilot clinical trial.