Amer Samdani, MD, is the chief of surgery for Shriners Hospital for Children – Philadelphia.
His practice focuses on scoliosis and complex spinal deformity treatment, with an emphasis on fusionless options. He is also on the board of directors for the Scoliosis Research Society and has published more than 200 spinal deformity-related papers.
Here, Dr. Samdani discusses the big trends in spine and how he sees his practice evolving.
Question: What emerging technology are you most interested in today and why?
Dr. Amer Samdani: The two main areas I have interest include: growth modulation and robotics. With respect to growth modulation, we can utilize the growth a child has remaining to help correct their spinal deformities. Growth modulation with vertebral body tethering has emerged as an option for select children, but we are just scratching the surface. Robotics, without a doubt in my opinion, will slowly gain acceptance into mainstream.
Q: How do you think your practice will change in the next three years? What are you doing today to prepare?
AS: Over the next three years I see us incorporating predictive analytics more and more into our practices as larger datasets can generate improved outcomes. We are working on the research side to drive these efforts. In addition, I feel in pediatric spine growth modulation will become a more utilized technique.
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