Each year the NASS Annual Meeting brings opinion leaders and industry together over 3.5 days to continue and enhance their own education in best practices in spine care. This internet enduring activity takes the “Best of” sessions from the 2023 Annual Meeting and offers them as one package, providing you with the highlights of the year in one convenient internet activity. The full final program, including complete symposia listings may be viewed by clicking on the link above.

This course will provide an overview of reading and reviewing manuscripts of various study designs, along with discussion on ideal techniques for designing these studies with the goal of publishing a manuscript in a peer-reviewed journal.

In this webinar, presenters will describe the infrastructure necessary to perform outpatient lumbar fusion, select the most appropriate surgical fusion technique for an outpatient lumbar fusion, define optimal multi-modal analgesia treatments for outpatient lumbar fusion, assess ambulatory surgery center ownership models, and apply appropriate management options for outpatient lumbar fusion complications.

In this hour-long webinar presented by the Section on Biologics & Basic Research, faculty will examine the current knowledge on gut microbiome analysis and address the evidence supporting the correlation between the gut biome and subclinical infection contributing to high pseudoarthrosis rates. In addition, participants will gain insight about the new changes to the standard of care and clinical procedures that will drastically reduce the rate of non-iatrogenic biofilm linked fusion failure.

This hour-long webinar will focus on spinal ankylosing disorders: ankylosing spondylitis (AS), disseminated hyperostosis of the spine (DISH), and end-stage spondylosis. It will explore the current trends in AS presentation, technical nuances of treatment, early complications and associated outcomes of trauma in AS patients. Spinal ankylosing disorders represent a healthcare challenge. When these patients experience trauma, their injuries are often underestimated. They often experience prolonged inpatient hospitalizations with significant morbidity and mortality. This webinar will update and expand the knowledge of surgeons and help them evaluate, treat and counsel AS patients, including the risks unique to patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

In this hour-long webinar presented by the Section on Spinal Deformity, presenters discuss how spinal deformity surgery is becoming significantly more prevalent due to an aging population as well as improved techniques and technologies that reduce risks and optimize outcomes. During this webinar, presenters will discuss some of the best teaching cases given by leaders in the field with the worst outcomes and how these cases changed the physicians’ practices accordingly.

In this hour-long webinar presented by the Section on Biologics & Basic Research, presenters will highlight the historical approaches and technologies of spine implants and how that carried us to today’s standards. From basic science research to clinical application, presenters discuss and provide insight about the history of implant design with the use of biologics and surgical approaches emphasizing patient outcomes.

Continuing Medical Education (CME)s

The North American Spine Society is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The North American Spine Society designates this enduring material for a maximum of

1.5

AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.

Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

As an independent profession, the neuromonitoring (IONM) community frequently publishes evidence-based guidelines and standards that establish and maintain expectations for how IONM should be performed. Depending on individual preferences and practice patterns, spine surgeons take on various levels of responsibility for the supervision, interpretation and technical performance of IONM, often without knowing these guidelines and standards exist. Deviations from guidelines and standards on the part of the surgeon are often documented by the IONM team for their medicolegal protection, potentially increasing exposure for the surgeon. Additionally, hospital policies and procedures that constrain the practice of IONM can reduce patient safety and result in additional unanticipated medicolegal exposure. This session will address the most common questions the IONM Section gets from the NASS community. Faculty are experts in IONM guidelines and standards, clinical practice patterns and closed claims involving IONM and spine surgery. Attendees are encouraged to share their experiences and perspectives in what we expect will be a lively Q&A. This one-hour NASS 2021 pre-conference webinar is free for all members and nonmembers.

Psychologically-Informed Practice can enhance guideline-based spine care and much attention has recently been placed on this topic. The COVID-19 pandemic has compounded behavioral aspects related to spine care - for both patients and providers. This session is aimed at providing essential knowledge to help the spine provider make informed decisions about implementing Psychologically-Informed Practice for the management of patients with spinal pain disorders, with an emphasis on behavioral aspects related to delivering therapeutic exercise. This one-hour NASS 2021 pre-conference webinar is free for all members and nonmembers.

Usage of bone morphogenetic protein has seen large fluctuations given the controversy regarding its safety profile. As reemergence of use continues to grow, it is important to evaluate the efficacy and safety of these applications. Additionally, small molecule and peptide alternatives to BMP2 are emerging, and critical analysis of their efficacy and safety is essential. This one-hour NASS 2021 pre-conference webinar is free for all members and nonmembers.

This webinar is designed to describe the intraoperative setup involved for performing robotic spine surgery and strategies to maximize efficiency.

In January 2020, NASS released Evidence-Based Clinical Guidelines for Multidisciplinary Spine Care: Diagnosis and Treatment of Low Back Pain. The objective of this guideline is to provide evidence-based recommendations to address key clinical questions surrounding the diagnosis and treatment of adult patients with nonspecific low back pain. The guideline, technical report, and bibliography are available free to the public online:

NASS Clinical Practice Guidelines

In this online course, the Clinical Practice Guideline Committee (formerly known as the Evidence-Based Guideline Development Committee) Co-Chairs and Low Back Pain Guideline Section Chairs will discuss the development process for this guideline and review the key recommendations for each section.

There are relatively few educational opportunities for nurses who wish to participate in spine care specialty training. For those taking care of patients with spine pathology, a fundamental knowledge base and a similar language and terminology will enhance communication among practitioners and ultimately improve patient care and outcomes. This one-day course will review spine anatomy and terminology. There will be discussion about various spine pathologies and procedures. Participants will be introduced to topics related to physical exam, perioperative complications, psychosocial aspects of perioperative care and pain management. A multidisciplinary faculty will present information about the role of interventional spine techniques, physical therapy and chiropractic care. Faculty will emphasize the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to caring for patients with spine pathology.

This course provides a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear from the leading international experts in motor control of the spine at the same time. The course is an unrivalled forum to learn the state-of-the-art on the relevance of motor control for management of low back pain, the latest evidence for “if” and “how” motor control treatments are effective for management of low back pain, and how to apply motor control intervention in clinical management of patients. The latest clinical and research evidence will be discussed by the leading international experts and the new frontiers will be highlighted. A particular focus will be on understanding “who” benefits from motor control training, “how” to match the right treatment to the right patient, and “when” it is most effective.