Becker's ASC Review

35 ORTHOPEDICS Dr. Muhammad Abd-El-Barr offers awake spinal fusion at Duke By Alan Condon N eurosurgeon Muhammad Abd-El-Barr, MD, PhD, is the first physician to offer awake spinal fusion to patients at Duke Spine Center in Durham, N.C., according to a Sept. 9 report from the health system. Awake procedures, performed for many years in neurosurgery, is a relatively new development in the spine field and helps surgeons ensure that no damage is being done to the patient. Duke's first awake spine surgery was per- formed in November by Dr. Abd-El-Barr at the request of a patient with spondylolisthe- sis who previously had an adverse reaction to general anesthesia. Undergoing awake spine surgery without general anesthesia typically means a quicker recovery, fewer postoperative complications and a shorter hospital stay for patients. Dr. Abd-El-Barr performed the surgery with a spinal robot in a procedure he coined awake spinal anesthetic robotic lumbar fusion. Duke began offering robotic spine surgery in early 2019. e procedure involves the anesthesia team administering a spinal anesthetic to numb the patient "from trunk to toes" and placing local anesthetic on both sides of the lumbar spine using ultrasound guidance, according to Jeffrey Gadsen, MD, associate professor of anesthesiol- ogy at Duke. Dr. Abd-El-Barr has since connected with Alok Sharan, MD, a spine surgeon in New York, an early adopter of awake spine sur- gery, to form a virtual study group to share best practices on the procedure. According to Dr. Sharan, there are fewer than 10 surgeons in the U.S. performing awake spinal fusion. n Renowned UK orthopedic surgeon investigated for collecting bones of 5,000+ patients By Alan Condon A U.K.-based orthopedic surgeon is being investigated by police for allegedly keeping the bones of at least 5,224 patients that he operated on, The Independent reported Sept. 29. Dr. Derek McMinn, pioneer of an innovative hip resurfacing technique, allegedly stored the bones at his home and on business premises without a license or appropriate consent from patients. His actions breached the Human Tissue Act, which forbids the removing, storing or using of human tissue without proper consent. Dr. McMinn has been suspended from Edgbaston Hospital, a private facility in Birmingham, where he performed most of the surgeries. Nurses, physicians and other operating room staff were allegedly aware of the surgeon's actions, according to The Independent. The newspaper received a leaked internal report — completed in October 2019 — from BMI Healthcare, which operates Edgbaston Hospital. BMI Healthcare has come under fire for failing to inform patients of the investigation. Dr. McMinn has performed more than 3,500 hip resurfacings and over 6,000 total hip replacements, including many surgeries on high-profile athletes, according to his website. He has presented internationally at annual meetings of various profes- sional societies, including the American Academy of Orthopaedic Sur- geons and the European Federation of Orthopaedic Societies. n Dr. Nikolay Martirosyan performs single-position spine surgery, cuts OR time by 1 hour By Alan Condon N eurosurgeon Nikolay Martirosyan, MD, PhD, performed a mini- mally invasive spine surgery that reduces time in the operating room by one hour, NBC affiliate KWWL reported Sept. 24. Coined "prone, single-position spine surgery," the procedure is available at a select number of hospitals in the U.S., according to Dr. Martirosyan. The patient lies face down for the duration of the surgery, which trans- lates into less anesthetic for the patient, reduced blood loss and a signifi- cantly shortened procedure time. After consulting with a mentor who performed the procedure, Dr. Mar- tirosyan replicated the surgery at Allen Hospital in Waterloo, Iowa. He has performed the novel surgery three times and aims to use it with most of his patients. n

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