Co-Director of the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute at Midwest Orthopedics at Rush in Chicago Kern Singh, MD, founded the Minimally Invasive Spine Study Group.
"The MISSG is an international organization dedicated to advancement of minimally invasive spine surgery that is truly the first of its kind," said Dr. Singh. "This collaborative effort between the world's leading minimally invasive spine surgeons will revolutionize the way in which we conduct minimally invasive spine research."
Here are five things to know about the study group:
1. MISSG is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Its mission is to promote research and advancement of minimally invasive spine surgery.
2. The study group is a multi-institutional organization focused on performing high-quality clinical research. It houses an online patient registry, REDCAP, containing data from 3,000 unique patients treated with minimally invasive approaches.
3. The board of directors includes Dr. Singh, Frank Phillips, MD, and Sheeraz Qureshi, MD. Dr. Phillips is Co-Director of the Minimally Invasive Spine Institute at Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush and Dr. Qureshi is an associate professor of spinal surgery at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.
4. Members of the study group can add patients to the registry through an online portal. The data ranges from preoperative demographics to operative characteristics.
5. The study group is holding an informational session at the 2017 International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery annual meeting in April.