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The Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery

By Elizabeth Hofheinz, M.Ed., M.P.H.
Orthopedics This Week
May 22, 2007

Perhaps the spine surgeons fascinated by minimally invasive surgery (MIS) inherently trust the natural order of things, i.e., the body as is. They know that to be effective, one doesn’t have to go in and make bold moves. The moves they make are small, subtle, and sophisticated.

And they want to tell the world. So what better way to advance a field than form an organization and champion the merits of said field? Says Choll Kim, assistant professor of Orthopedic Surgery at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and director of the spine fellowship program, “With benefits for patients, surgeons, and hospitals, MIS surgery has the potential to dramatically improve spine care. Less trauma, less blood loss, smaller scars, and fewer days in the hospital are but a few of the advantages to these types of procedures. There seems to be a serious learning curve for surgeons, however. We are not exactly sure why adoption of MIS techniques in practice lags behind the interest that people express in the technology. For this and other reasons, several prominent surgeons have joined together to form the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery.”

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