IMAST Committee
Ahmet Alanay, MD
Chair
The long-awaited day is now approaching. The first face-to-face IMAST meeting after about two years will be held in Miami in April. We all look forward to this important meeting with great excitement. This year, the program includes case discussions about highly interesting topics, lectures, panels and workshops. Of course, as usual, the whole focus is on innovative techniques and new approaches in different fields of spinal surgery. New techniques mean new journeys and new journeys are full of challenges.
While some of us are hasty in putting these innovations into our daily practice, some of us are a little more conservative. But in the end, we are all looking for evidence. Scientific studies, which are of great importance in the creation of evidence, and international scientific meetings, where these are presented are very important and the fastest way to reach to new information.
Some innovations are permanent, while others are abandoned. At this meeting, all the innovations you are curious about, such as non-fusion scoliosis surgery (VBT), surgical treatment of sacroiliac pain, which may be an important source of pain that we think we neglect, robotics in spinal surgery, the current status of minimally invasive spinal surgery, patient optimization and the use of artificial intelligence for better patient selection, preparation and successful outcomes, new approaches for the treatment of spinal tumor and trauma, as well as cervical deformity problems and surgical solutions in children and adults will be discussed in details.
This year, as in the previous year, we will have a Bandwagon versus Pendulum Swing session, where surgical techniques that we started using in our practice with great hopes and then abandoned or are about to abandon with disappointment will be discussed. Lunch with the experts: Master Video Techniques session will make the big finale, where pioneers of new techniques will present their tips and tricks with video demonstrations.
One of this year’s newest additions is that for the first time, there will be two sessions where innovations related to adult deformities will be discussed jointly by AANS and SRS members.
In addition to in-person participation, virtual participation will be provided for physicians with travel restrictions. And last but not least, this meeting takes place in Miami, one of the most popular travel destinations in the USA. We are waiting for you all to the 29th IMAST meeting, which is an opportunity not to be missed in all aspects. Click here to register.