The NASS Podcast

Did you know that physicians, as a group, have lower work-life satisfaction compared to the general population? The consequences of burnout are borne both by the individual physician and the health care system. The recognition of burnout as a serious individual and institutional challenge is leading to an increased need to design, implement, and evaluate systems that promote well-being. Moderator...

Featuring: F. Todd Wetzel, MD; Carrie A. Diulus, MD; Mark Cuccuzella, MD Disclosures: Cuccuzella, Mark : Nothing to Disclose Diulus, Carrie A. : Trips/Travel: NASS (Travel Expense Reimbursement).   Wetzel, F. Todd : Stock Ownership: Relievant Medical (1%).  Key: A: $100-$1,000; B: $1001-$10,000; C: $10,001-$25,000; D: $25,001-$50,000; E: $50,001-$100,000; F: $100,001- $500,000; G: $500,0...

Featuring: Lawrence G. Lenke, MD; Evan K. Johnson, PT, DPT, OCS; Neel Anand, MD Disclosures: Anand, Neel: Royalties: Medtronic (F), Nuvasive (B), Globus Medical (B), Elsevier (B); Stock Ownership: Globus (, unknown), Medtronics (, unknown); Private Investments: Paradigm Spine (, 1%, unknown), Bonovo Orthopaedics (, 1%, unknown), Pearl Diver (, 1%, unknown), Theracell (, 1%, unknown), GYS Tech (, 1...

Moderator Douglas Pahl, MD interviews Karthik Madhavan, MD about a SpineLine articled he helped author titled, "Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence: Are We There Yet?". Dr. Madhavan talks about the exciting developments with augmented reality and how there is still much to learn in the cutting-edge technology. This article first appeared in the January/February 2020 edit...

Featuring: Joseph H. Schwab, MD; Andrew J. Schoenfeld, MD Disclosures: Schoenfeld, Andrew J.: Royalties: Wolters Kluwer, Springer (B); Consulting: ArborMetrix (C); Trips/Travel: JBJS (A); Other Office: Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (C); Research Support - Staff and/or Materials: CMS (D, Paid directly to institution/employer); Grants: Department of Defense (D, Paid directly to institution/emplo...

Featuring: Joseph H Schwab, MD; Dan M Sciubba, MD; Ilya Laufer, MD Disclosures: Schwab, Joseph H.: Scientific Advisory Board: Chordoma Foundation (None); Speaking and/or Teaching Arrangements: AOSpine (Travel Expense Reimbursement, Outside 12-Month Requirement), Stryker Spine (B, Outside 12-Month Requirement).  Sciubba, Dan: Consulting: Baxter (B), DePuy Synthes (B), Globus (B), Medtronic (C)...

Featuring: F. Todd Wetzel, MD, John Ney, MD, Tara Stewart, PhD, DABNM Disclosures: Wetzel, F. Todd: Stock Ownership: Relievant Medical (1%).  Ney, John: Board of Directors: American Society for Neuromonitoring (None); Consulting: Ceribell (B), SpecialtyCare (B); Other Office: American Academy of Neurology, Medical Economics and Management Committee (Travel Expense Reimbursement); Speaking and...

Featuring: Scott Blumenthal, MD, Richard D. Guyer, MD, Jack E. Zigler, MD Disclosures: Blumenthal, Scott: Royalties: Aesculap (A); Stock Ownership: FzioMed (1%), VertiFlex (1%), Centinel Spine (1%); Consulting: Sites Medical (None), Aesculap (C), Vertera (None), Bayliss Medical (C), Orthofix (None); Speaking and/or Teaching Arrangements: Aesculap (D), VertiFlex (B), Bayliss (None); Scientific Advi...

Featuring: F. Todd Wetzel, MD, Chris J. Main, MA, PhD, Gregory L. Whitcomb, DC Disclosures: Wetzel, F. Todd: Stock Ownership: Relievant Medical (1%).  Main, Chris J.: Consulting: Medrisk Inc International Scientific Advisory Board (B, Paid directly to institution/employer); Device or Biologic Distribution Group (Physician-Owned Distributorship): The Back Book (B).  Whitcomb, Gregory L.:...

Featuring: Scott Blumenthal, MD, Richard D. Guyer, MD, Jack E. Zigler, MD Disclosures: Blumenthal, Scott: Royalties: Aesculap (A); Stock Ownership: FzioMed (1%), VertiFlex (1%), Centinel Spine (1%); Consulting: Sites Medical (None), Aesculap (C), Vertera (None), Bayliss Medical (C), Orthofix (None); Speaking and/or Teaching Arrangements: Aesculap (D), VertiFlex (B), Bayliss (None); Scientific Advi...

[12 of 12] Section on Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring (IONM) Section Co-Chairs Dr. Rich Vogel and Dr. Adam Doan discuss the question, “ Are wakeups always prolonged with neuromonitoring under TIVA?” It’s a common complaint: we use TIVA for MEPs, but the patients take forever to wake up from anesthesia. To combat this problem, many surgeons elect to discontinue IONM earlier in the proc...

[3 of 3] In this newest episode from the Section on Spine Oncology , Drs. Schwab, Sciubba, and Goodwin discuss operating on neurofibromas.  Surgery on patients with neurofibromas can range from relatively straightforward (simple neurofibromas) to life-threatening (complex plexiform neurofibromas).  In patients with plexiform neurofibromas, particularly those near the spinal cord, care ne...

[11 of 12] Section on Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring (IONM) Section Co-Chairs Dr. Rich Vogel and Dr. Adam Doan discuss the question, “ Neuromonitoring lost their signals, now what?” Aside from checking wires and anesthesia, what else works? It turns out there is a lot one can do to restore signals. Here the Co-Chairs review these checks and interventions. Disclosures: Doan, Adam: Pri...

[10 of 12] Section on Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring (IONM) Section Co-Chairs Dr. Rich Vogel and Dr. Adam Doan discuss, " Diagnostic accuracy of IONM from the neurophysiologist’s perspective." They review the traditional diagnostic table (i.e., ± alert, ± deficit) and consider other factors like intervention, resolution of data, type of monitoring modality, etc. They also present an...

[2 of 3] In this podcast, Matthew Goodwin, MD, PhD, of Washington University Orthopaedics/Barnes-Jewish and the Washington University Spine Tumor Center and Section on Spine Oncology Chair, discusses the question often asked of spine surgeons by other services, "Why do you need an X-ray when we have a CT, MRI, etc?"   Hear him address this question with a few short case examples, five of the...

Featuring: Zorica Buser, PhD, Mark Erwin, DC, PhD Disclosures: Buser, Zorica: Consulting: AOSpine (B), Xenco Medical (B); Research Support (Investigator Salary): SeaSpine (F, Paid directly to institution/employer); Research Support (Staff and/or materials): SeaSpine (F, Paid directly to institution/employer); Trips/Travel: AOSpine (Travel Expense Reimbursement). Erwin, William Mark: Board of Direc...

Featuring: Christina L. Goldstein, MD, FRCSC, Scott D. Daffner, MD, Gregory D. Schroeder, MD Disclosures: Daffner, Scott D.: Consulting: Bioventus (B); Fellowship Support: AO Spine (E, Paid directly to institution/employer),  Medtronic (D, Outside 12-Month Requirement, Paid directly to institution/employer); Grants: AO Foundation (F, Outside 12-Month Requirement, Paid directly to institution/...

[9 of 12] Section on Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring (IONM) Section Co-Chairs Dr. Rich Vogel and Dr. Adam Doan discuss the question, “Is it really an alert? Whence the criteria?” The criteria for calling an alert in IONM have evolved over the years and many people don’t know what the latest research says. This causes a lot of false positives (and some false negatives). We review what...

Featuring: Evan K. Johnson, PT, DPT, OCS, Rick J. Placide, MD, PT Disclosures: Johnson, Evan K.: Nothing to Disclose   Placide, Rick J.: Nothing to Disclose   Key: A: $100-$1,000; B: $1001-$10,000; C: $10,001-$25,000; D: $25,001-$50,000; E: $50,001-$100,000; F: $100,001- $500,000; G: $500,001-$1M; H: $1,000,001- $2.5M; I: $2.5M+

[1 of 3] Hosted by Joseph H. Schwab, MD and Matthew L. Goodwin, MD, PhD, this episode by the Section on Spine Oncology discusses the question, "Why do we want to be concerned about systemic disease and predict survival?" The hosts review the concept of predictive modeling for spinal metastases and include discussion on NOMs and SINs criteria, reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of each and fini...

[8 of 12] Section on Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring (IONM) Section Co-Chairs Dr. Rich Vogel and Dr. Adam Doan discuss the question, “What can you do to improve accuracy of pedicle screw stimulation?” Pedicle screw stimulation was developed and tested under very specific methods, but very few people follow these methods, and this reduces the accuracy. We return to the basics and make...

Featuring: Michael G. Fehlings, MD, PhD, FRCSC, Paul M. Arnold, MD Disclosures: Arnold, Paul M.: Board of Directors: AANS/CNS Joint Section on Neurotrauma (Nonfinancial), CSRS (Nonfinancial), LSRS (Nonfinancial), SpineEx (1%); Consulting: Asterias (A, Outside 12-Month Requirement), Cerapedics (C), Medtronic (B), Spine Wave (B); Research Support (Staff and/or materials): Evoke Medical, LLC (40%, Pa...

[7 of 12] Section on Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring (IONM) Co-Chairs Dr. Rich Vogel and Dr. Adam Doan discuss the question, “Are there any real contraindications to MEPs?” This episode, the Co-Chairs cut through the common myths associated with MEP contraindications: there are no absolute contraindications and all of the relative contraindications have actually been shown to be quite...

Featuring: Michael Y. Wang, MD, Michael P. Steinmetz, MD Disclosures: Steinmetz, Michael P.: Royalties: Biomet Spine (B); Consulting: Intellirod (A), Stryker Spine (B), Globus (B); Speaking and/or Teaching Arrangements: Stryker (B); Board of Directors: AANS/CNS Section on Disorders of the Spine (Chair Exhibits Committee), Council of State Neurosurgical Societies (Vice Chair); Scientific Advisory B...

[6 of 12] Section on Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring (IONM) Co-Chairs Dr. Rich Vogel and Dr. Adam Doan discuss the question, “How can you use neuromonitoring to guide and optimize positioning for spine surgery?” The patient is finally in position and neuromonitoring can’t get baselines. What do you do? If you elect to intervene, it’s a long process to retest baselines in a neutral pos...