Life Spine, a Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based medical device company, is holding a training course on its Centric minimally invasive spine technology to instruct surgeons on its products and clinical indications, according to a company news release.

Larry Parker, MD, is a spine surgeon in Huntsville, Ala., with The Orthopaedic Center, a comprehensive orthopedic and spine facility that offers the comprehensive orthopedic services, including trauma and pediatric orthopedics. Dr. Parker discusses the challenges and benefits of practicing at a large comprehensive orthopedic care facility.

Ken Pettine, MD, founder of The Spine Institute and Loveland (Colo.) Surgery Center, gave a presentation titled "Everything You Need to Know to Successfully Perform Spine Surgery in an ASC" at the 9th Annual Orthopedic, Spine and Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference in Chicago on June 10, 2011. Dr. Pettine's goal for the future is moving 50 percent of inpatient spine surgeries into ambulatory surgery centers. For this to happen, Medicare must update guidelines so spine can be profitable in an ASC and more surgeons will need to build confidence in their ability to perform cases safely and efficiently in ASCs.

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Orthopaedic Trauma Association and Orthopaedics Overseas have established an orthopedic specialty training program in Ghana, according to an AAOS Now story.

Lateral lumbar interbody fusion, also known as extreme lateral interbody fusion, is a relatively new procedure that surgeons have found successful for treating patients with complex disorders such as spondylolisthesis and scoliosis. "Right now, I consider lateral lumbar interbody fusions to be the most successful procedure to accomplish what we set out to do in terms of surgical interventions for these complex procedures," says Frank Cammisa, MD, chief of spine service for the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. He discusses four points on the XLIF procedure.

David J. Raab, MD, president of the Board of Managers, and Jeffrey L. Visotsky, MD, member of the Board of Managers, Illinois Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Surgery Center, recently gave a presentation titled "Key Thoughts on Hand and Knee Surgery in ASCs—What Makes Sense Financially" at the 9th Annual Orthopedic, Spine and Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference in Chicago on June 9, 2011.

Neel Anand, MD (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles). Dr. Anand is the director of orthopedic spine surgery at Cedars-Sinai Spine Center, where he also researches minimally invasive surgical techniques for spinal disorders and traumas. During his career, he has been actively involved in developing technologies for non-fusion spine surgery and served as a principle investigator for several FDA device exemption studies. Dr. Anand has published papers in several professional journals, including the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. He is a member of the North American Spine Society and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. He earned his medical degree from the University of Mumbai, Topiwala National Medical College in India. He also completed a spine surgery fellowship at the University of Florida Spinal Health Centers in Gainesville and a trauma fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

This is a list of orthopedic- and spine-driven surgery centers researched and compiled by our editorial staff. Surgery centers do not pay and cannot pay to be selected for inclusion on this list. This list is not an endorsement of any individual's or organization's clinical abilities.