Spine Research
Principal Investigators
Mark Erickson, MD
Professor
Professor
Sumeet Garg, MD
Associate Professor
Associate Professor
Research Assistants
Florian Miller, BA
Research Assistant
Research Assistant
Tyler Feddema, BS
Research Assistant
Research Assistant
Management of Spinal Deformity
Research in the Spine Program focuses on the management of spinal deformity in children. Research efforts are directed toward evaluating and improving quality and safety outcomes in spine surgery, especially minimizing blood loss, surgical site infections, and other complications. The Spine Program is also dedicated to investigating the effectiveness and quality of life outcomes of non-invasive treatments such as bracing, casting, and observation.
The Spine Program participates in five multicenter, prospective registry studies. The Pediatric Spine Study Group (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02540915) enrolls and tracks patients with early onset spine and chestwall deformities. The Fox Spine Deformity Study investigates patients with severe spine deformity (deformity angle >100° and/or planned vertebral column resection) undergoing surgery.
The Surgeon Performance Registry assesses patient and surgeon variables and practice patterns associated with the surgical treatment of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS). We are also participating in the HARMS AIS and HARM CP (Cerebral Palsy) registries. These registries are the first large-scale prospective, multi-center series of spinal fusion outcomes with patients with AIS and CP.
This single-center randomized clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02781324) investigates the efficacy of the ultrasonic bone scalpel compared with the osteotome in reducing blood loss during posterior spinal fusion. The targeted population is patients with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) undergoing surgery, and the primary outcome variable is blood loss per fusion level. This study was funded by the Scoliosis Research Society New-Investigator Grant.
This multi-center randomized clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01792609) investigates the outcomes of low versus high implant density posterior spine fusion constructs in patients undergoing surgery for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.