Performing Spinal Surgeries with Two Attending Surgeons

Two heads are better than one, as the saying goes -- and a new study by a duo at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) demonstrates how having two attending surgeons in the operating room during spinal surgeries can benefit patients in multiple ways.

Most spinal surgeries in the United States are performed by teams led by a single attending surgeon -- one top-level doctor who has completed medical school, residency and other specialized training.

In 2007, two spinal surgeons in the Departments of Neurological Surgery and Orthopedic Surgery joined forces and began doing certain complex, high-risk procedures together, and now they have published their findings on the benefits of having them both in the operating room.

In this video, UCSF neurosurgeon Christopher Ames, MD, who led the study with orthopedic surgeon Vedat Deviren, MD. describes the procedure considered in the study: pedicle subtraction osteotomy, a surgery that realigns the spine in cases of very severe deformities, many of which arise from alignment complications of prior surgery and severe degenerative spinal arthritis.

Read more: http://ucsf.edu/news/2013/01/13402/co...

Video by Jason Socrates Bardi
Animation by Chris Ames, A.Bokelman, and K.Probst/Xavier Studios
Photos by Susan Merrell

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