Ali Anissipour, MD, an orthopedic spine surgeon at Western Washington Medical Group in Everett, recently joined Becker's to discuss his achievements in the last year and trends and advancements in spine surgery worth monitoring.
Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: What are you most proud of from last year?
Dr. Ali Anissipour: I'm most proud of my work over the past year, where I've combined two areas of expertise to help my patients with spinal deformities. I've been using advanced techniques in oblique lumbar interbody fusion with anterior longitudinal ligament releases and lateral anterior lumbar interbody fusion combined with robotic-assisted percutaneous screw placement and facet work for scoliosis surgery. This innovative approach has helped in achieving spinal alignment goals, minimizing narcotic usage, promoting earlier mobilization and reducing hospital stays.
Q: What are the biggest trends you're following in healthcare right now?
AA: A significant trend I've been closely following in healthcare is the continued growth of endoscopic spine surgery. It's gaining more representation at conferences like the North American Spine Society's annual meeting. While I acknowledge some benefits of this technique, I'm also scrutinizing factors such as its actual advantages when compared to tubular decompression, the learning curve, startup costs, disposable expenses and the overall time required for the procedure.
Q: What are you excited about for 2024?
AA: In 2024, I'm excited about the continued development of spinal technology and its applications in spine surgery. I'm particularly interested in the expansion of robotic usage beyond screw placement and the integration of live feedback for intraoperative changes in spinal alignment, deformity and foraminal height evaluation. Companies like Proprio, with their high-powered light array technology, are promising developments that could revolutionize procedures by mapping preoperative scans to real-time 3D representations of patients' anatomy.