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Spine surgery

Minimally invasive spinal surgery—does size matter?

The past two decades have witnessed the emergence of minimally invasive techniques in most surgical specialties, but their role in spinal surgery remains controversial. A recent study has compared outcomes in minimally invasive versus open spinal fusion surgery. Does the size of the surgical approach really matter?

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Acknowledgements

I thank M. Wood and R. Kirollos for critically reading an early version of this manuscript.

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R. Mannion has received honoraria and research support from Medtronic, and grant support from Pfizer.

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Mannion, R. Minimally invasive spinal surgery—does size matter?. Nat Rev Neurol 8, 363–365 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2012.113

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