Main Interview _________________________________________________________________________________________________
EVIDENCE-DRIVEN SPINE CARE
Matt Jenkins explains how clinical trials improve care standards for spinal degenerative disease patients
Patients living with chronic neck or back pain caused by degenerative spinal disease can transform their lives with spinal fusion surgery. The procedure relieves years of pain, restores spinal stability, and helps people return to work and the activities they enjoy. Spinal fusion, however, ranks among the most complex orthopedic surgeries, and its success depends on much more than surgical skill. Decades of research and carefully designed clinical trials drive every good outcome, providing evidence that guides surgeons toward the best procedures, identifies patients most likely to benefit, and reveals how new technologies can improve results and reduce complications. As spinal fusion surgery evolves, clinical trials, especially Level 1 randomized clinical studies, play a leading role in shaping patient care and establishing new standards to improve outcomes.
The scale of spinal fusion
Although many view spinal fusion as a highly specialized operation, it ranks among the most common major surgeries in the US, with surgeons performing more than 300,000 cervical and lumbar spine procedures each year.
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