Here are four spine and orthopedic surgery "firsts" since Oct. 1.
1. Surgeons with Plano-based Texas Back Institute and Washington, D.C.-based Howard University Hospital performed the first cases with Sure Retractors' sterile anterior and posterior cervical retractors.
2. Brandon Strenge, MD, completed the first cases using Expanding Innovations' X-PAC expandable lateral cage system.
3. Gregory Lopez, MD, on Oct. 30 completed the first U.S. case with ZimVie's 4.5mm Mobi-C cervical disc.
4. An orthopedic surgery team including Ignacio Garcia Fleury, MD, Maria Bozoghlian, MD, Joseph Buckwalter, MD, PhD, and Benjamin Miller, MD, performed the first carpal tunnel release procedure at the Iowa City Free Medical & Dental Clinic.