Spine’s future isn’t ‘rivalry,’ Cedars-Sinai study finds
By Admin | October 01, 2025
A study published Sept. 24 in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons found “little differences” in surgical outcomes between orthopedic spine surgeons and spinal neurosurgeons.
The study evaluated 80 studies before May 2022 that compared neurosurgeons and orthopedic spine surgeons. The majority of articles found no differences in postoperative outcomes. There weren’t any notable differences in outcomes when analyzed according to author type.
David Skaggs, MD, and Alexander Tuchman, MD, both co-directors of Cedars-Sinai Spine in Los Angeles, shared their perspective on what the outcomes mean for the specialties.
Note: This response was lightly edited.
Question: What do the findings of this study mean for the future of spine and neurosurgery?
Dr. David Skaggs and Dr. Alexander Tuchman: When we set out to conduct a systematic review of every study comparing orthopaedic and neurosurgical spine surgeons, we honestly didn’t know what to expect. One concern was that the literature might reveal subtle — or not-so-subtle — bias, with authors favoring their own specialty or minimizing the contributions of the other.
We were relieved, and encouraged, to discover this was not the case.
In our new JAAOS article, we analyzed 80 studies. The results were clear:...(More)
For more info please read, Spine’s future isn’t ‘rivalry,’ Cedars-Sinai study finds, by Becker's Spine Review
