Our research group recently reviewed over 14,000 Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF) patients being treated for spinal cord compression. Approximately 20% were treated using an outpatient paradigm. We did an analysis comparing the two groups and found outpatient ACDF to be a safe and effective option for those with spinal cord compression. The full article is here:
Minimally Invasive Surgery has higher Success at Long Term Follow up
Good Morning, Washington D.C.!
Recent publications demonstrate that minimally invasive surgery has lower rates of next level operation at 5 and 10 years. The rate of re-operation is 1.5% at 5 years and 6% at 10 years. This rate compares favorably to the open surgery rate of re-operation of 18% at 5 years and 29% at 10 years. In other words, open surgery has a risk of adjacent segment surgery that is 3.97 times higher than minimally invasive surgery.
See the article here: Minimally Invasive Versus Open Surgery 10 year Follow Up
January 2021
January 2021
2021 is off to a good start. We have received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine without side effects. We are very grateful for this opportunity.
Our team received awards from the Washingtonian and Northern Virginia Magazine for Top Doc’s 2021
Moving forward, our research foundation has approval for 6 prospective studies, with two abstracts submitted to ISASS 2021 and SRS/IMAST 2021.
Closing out 2020
2020 has been a difficult year for all of us, but there remains hope in the two vaccines released by Pfizer and Moderna. I was vaccinated on 12-18-20 with no side effects. My arm was sore for a day, but I was able to lift weights on the 20th without a problem.
On the bright side, 2020 saw Dr Feuchtbaum start his program in robotic spine surgery at Virginia Hospital Center and Nicole Casale PA-C join our team. Ira Fisch, MD continues to be the anchor in Bethesda, while Virginia Hospital Center has heavily invested in modern spinal equipment to ensure the best for our patients. Currently, we have a Mazor Robot, the Medtronic O-Arm and start of the art Stealth Navigation system. These systems ensure over 98% accuracy in modern minimally invasive spine surgery
Looking forward, a 3rd text book has been accepted by Springer for Publication: Lumbar Spine Access Surgery: A Comprehensive Guide to Anterior and Lateral Approaches by Joseph O’Brien, MD and Joseph Babrowicz, MD. Estimated publication is 2023 January. Our other textbooks can be seen here: The Resident’s Guide to Spine Surgery and The Spine Handbook. For a complete listing of publications see Google Scholar.
2020
Washingtonian Face of Spine Surgery
TextBook Published!
The Resident’s Guide to Spine Surgery was published by Springer and we could not be more proud!
You can find the book here:
Resident’s Guide to Spine Surgery AMAZON Link
A special thank you to my co-editors and Claire Von Ekdom for her hard wor over the last 2 years
Dr. O'Brien lectured at the Federation of Spine Society Associations in New Orleans
On March 10, 2018, Dr. O'Brien gave a 1 hour lecture at the Federation of Spine Associations (FOSA) on the prevention and management of spine infections in New Orleans as part of the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).
Dr. O'Brien's research accepted for presentation at the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery 2017
Dr O'Brien has 3 podium presentations at the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, in Las Vegas 2017 September.
Paper #6: 2-5 Year Follow Up on S2 Alar Iliac [S2AI] Pelvic Fixation. Evan Smith, MD; Justin Kyhos, MD; Robert Dolitsky, MD; Warren Yu, MD; Joseph OBrien, MD, MPH
Paper #32: Clinical and Radiographic Analysis of Expandable versus Static Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion Devices with One-Year Follow-up. Joseph OBrien; Richard Frisch, MD; Daina Brooks; Ingrid Luna, MPH; Faisal Siddiqui, MD; and Gita Joshua, MA
Paper #39: In Hospital Narcotic Usage Is Significantly Lower for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery versus Open Spine Surgery. David Falk, BS; Sachin Gupta, BS; Michael Hoy, BS; Darshan Vora, BS; Christine Piper, MD; Warren Yu, MD; Faisal Siddiqui, MD; Joseph OBrien, MD, MPH
Dr O'Brien has Joined OrthoBethesda!
Dr O'Brien has joined OrthoBethesda, the premier orthopaedic surgical group in the region. The merging of his practice with OrthoBethesda will allow him to provide the best services to his patients.
Dr O'Brien presents at the CNS meeting and AAOS meetings
At the Congress of Neurological Surgeons Spine Summit 2017 - 33rd Annual Meeting of the Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves, Dr O'Brien presented a lunchtime symposium on minimally invasive spine surgery. Additionally, he was faculty for the Hands-on Cadaver Lab: Innovative Techniques in Minimally Invasive and Deformity Surgery.
Additionally at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery, Dr O'Brien was chairman of an instructional course lecture on avoiding complications in routine lumbar spine surgery.
Dr Joseph O'Brien's research Featured prominently at LSRS
The Lumbar Spine Research society is an important organization with both Orthopaedic Surgeons and Neurological Surgeons presenting cutting edge research on the Lumbar Spine. This year in Chicago, Dr. Joseph O'Brien will give 4 presentations on lumbar spinal surgery
- "2-5 Year Follow Up on S2AI Pelvic Fixation," has found that the mid term follow up in adult spinal scoliosis surgery using S2AI fixation is excellent when compared to other methods.
- 'In Hospital Narcotic Usage Is Significantly Lower for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery Versus Open Spine Surgery.' Dr. O'Brien showed that minimally invasive surgery uses just 1/2 of the narcotics that open surgery uses for the post operative patient.
- "Clinical and Radiographic Analysis of Expandable versus Static Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion Devices with One-Year Follow-up," Showed that a new minimally invasive device that Dr. O'Brien investigated has superior radiographic alignment as compared to traditional devices
- An instructional Course Lecture on how ‘to limit intra-operative blood loss in lumbar spinal surgery