Future of spine surgery is bright
UCI Health surgeon says patient-specific advancements, professional collaboration improving care
IN THE NEWS: Spine surgery is evolving, and UCI Health orthopedic surgeon Dr. Sohaib Hashmi in the UCI Health Comprehensive Spine Center feels optimistic about the future. He spoke to Becker’s Spine Review about some of the reasons.
“I’m most optimistic about the rapidly evolving ecosystem of spine care. We are developing patient-specific advancements in pre-operative optimization, evaluation and surgical planning. I’m especially optimistic as integration of AI tools enhances decision-making, personalize risk assessment, and increase the precision and safety of our conservative and operative strategies.”
Professional relationships are also advancing the specialty, he says.
“Equally encouraging is the continued strengthening of collaboration between orthopedic surgery and neurosurgery. This partnership allows us to deliver the highest level of comprehensive, patient-centered spine care by combining complementary skill sets, perspectives and innovations.”
Hashmi is the director of spine trauma and UCI Health. He is also an assistant professor in the Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery and Neurosurgery at the UC Irvine School of Medicine. His clinical interests include degenerative diseases of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine, scoliosis, traumatic spine injuries, athletic injuries, complex revision spine surgery and reconstructive spine surgery. He uses both open and minimally invasive surgical approaches and works with varied surgical teams to treat trauma patient from the initial injury through recovery.
His current research is focused on orthobiologics and patient-reported outcomes studies in orthopedic spine and traumatic disorders. He is the author or co-author of more than 40 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters.
About UCI Health
UCI Health, one of California’s largest academic health systems, is the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine. The 1,461-bed system comprises its main campus UCI Health — Orange, its flagship hospital, the UCI Health — Irvine acute care hospital and medical campus, four hospitals and affiliated physicians of the UCI Health Community Network in Orange and Los Angeles counties and a network of ambulatory care centers across the region. UCI Health — Orange provides tertiary and quaternary care and is home to the only Orange County-based National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program and American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center, gold level 1 geriatric emergency department and regional burn center. Powered by UC Irvine, UCI Health serves 5.6 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).