Today at ISASS17 – Day 3

Friday, April 14, 2017

The last day of ISASS17 began with a 5K race, after which attendees raced to breakfast and the session on Thoracolumbar Degeneration, moderated by former ISASS President Dr. Gunnar Andersson and Dr. Michael Gerling. We explored Oblique Lateral fusions (OLIF), considered several different pain measures, discussed predictors of instability in lumbar spine stenosis, and debated the merits of LLIF versus ALIF.

Photo: IASP 5K Fun Run winners!

At the “Don’t Believe the Hype” Symposium, presenters gave light-hearted jabs at the cutting edge of technologies. With presentations like “Robotics: Isn’t this like the erector set when we were kids?” and “Biologics: Let’s be honest, have we become lazy and don’t want to take ICBG?” there were laughs to be had as well as useful perspectives from both established leaders like ISASS President Dr. Jeffrey Goldstein and Dr. Isador Lieberman and rising stars Dr. Alpesh Patel and Dr. Safdar Khan.

Following was the Cervical Degenerative session, led by Dr. Gunny Deol and Dr. Kris Siemionow, featuring some of the most exciting lectures we’ve yet seen—3D printing cervical interbody cages, 7 year follow-up presentations, how pedicle width relates to screw feasability—great stuff!

Photo: Friday morning general session.

Dr. Alex Vaccaro and Dr. Mark Kurd headed up the “ACSR at ISASS: Controversies in Spine Surgery” presentations, on topics like the ethics of the learning curve in MIS surgery, bundled payments, optimal materials for TLIF cages, and robotics in surgery. Whichever way you stand on hot-button issues, this was the panel to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly of some divisive but thought-provoking topics.

The Endoscopic Surgery session, with Dr. Michael Wang and Dr. Chris Yeung as moderators, touched on how to handle discectomy for top athletes, a new classification system for disc herniations, and dealing with the iliac crest.

The day wound down with a Pediatric Spine session—thank you to moderators Dr. Joseph Zavatsky and former ISASS President Dr. Tom Errico! Panelists plumbed the depths of how to deal with this tricky patient population, touching on spinal abnormalities and scoliosis, using traction intraoperatively, and hard questions on whether, in terms of scoliosis surgery, there is a difference between young adult patients and adolescent patients.

Those seeking extra credit found a bit more to squeeze out of the event with the Cadaver Lab, co-chaired by Dr. Rolando Garcia and Dr. Sheeraz Qureshi. Those seeking a little bit more time in the sun found a bit more to squeeze out of the event poolside.

Thank you to our Program Chair, Dr. Kern Singh, for helping to put together such a smashingly successful event.

We can’t wait to see you all at ISASS18! In the meantime, stay tuned to what the Society is up to by signing up for our email blasts at isass.org, following the Society’s newsletter at vertebralcolumns.com, and reading the great research produced at the Society’s official Journal, the International Journal of Spine Surgery, at

ijssurgery.com.

ISASS17 Cadaver Lab

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Cadaver Lab attendees will begin hands-on learning on Saturday, April 15, 2017 beginning at 7:00 am.

Thank you,

ISASS