Dr. Schröder is no longer employed by Bergman Clinics
This blog article was written during Dr. Schröder's tenure at Bergman Clinics in Naarden. He is currently employed at the Park Medical Center in Rotterdam.
International publications of the results at Bergman Clinics
New findings in my field
My work at Bergman Clinics has been fulfilling from the start. The combination of cutting-edge technology with personalized care for patients is a pleasant experience for everyone. From the beginning, I worked here with a newly developed navigation robot. I immediately noticed that it was an excellent tool for performing surgeries more precisely and with fewer complications.
Naturally, I wanted to share these findings within my field as soon as possible. In the medical world, you do this by publishing articles in internationally respected journals. However, where was I supposed to find the time to call my former patients after my busy clinic hours and surgery schedules to track their treatment results and compile statistics with all the collected information?
Then I remembered the grandson of our neighbors, who, as a 16-year-old, had once come to observe in the clinic and always asked such insightful questions. By now, Victor Staartjes had become a brilliant medical student at the University of Zurich. There, he was learning the latest insights in data analysis and... statistics! I called him and asked if he would be interested in working with my data. He responded enthusiastically. Victor tirelessly interviewed former patients to find out how they had fared. Even I was surprised by the conclusions. We have since published five articles in leading international journals on spinal surgery and have given presentations in countries such as Italy, America, China, Singapore, and Taiwan.
It turns out that what we have been doing in Naarden over the past few years is considered innovative and significant by the rest of the world. I would like to share the key findings with you because that's what it's all about: doctors are getting better and better at relieving your pain! I will try to explain in layman's terms what we have discovered.
Surgery manual
Dr. Schröder is happy to inform you about the surgical treatment of your neck or back condition. He also discusses the possible complications of the procedure with you.
After you've carefully weighed up the pros and cons of the surgery, you can decide for yourself whether you consider your condition serious enough to operate.
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Article 1
Journal: Neurosurgical Focus, May 2017
Title: Revisions for screw malposition and clinical outcomes after robot-guided lumbar fusion for spondylolisthesis
Research Result: When the surgeon uses a navigation robot during surgery for patients with slipped vertebrae, the risk of nerve damage is significantly reduced. This is because the robot determines the direction of the screws more accurately than when the surgeon does it freehand, even if the surgeon is very experienced.
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Article 2
Journal: World Neurosurgery, November 2017
Title: Effectiveness of a decision-making protocol for the surgical treatment of lumbar stenosis with Grade 1 degenerative spondylolisthesis
Research Result: Some patients have both a narrowed spinal canal and a slight vertebral slip, causing the spinal canal with the leg nerves to be further compressed. For some of these patients, a relatively simple decompression surgery is sufficient. For others, after decompression, the vertebrae also need to be fused. This article provides a simple guide to select the right patients for the right procedure, so that no one undergoes an unnecessary extensive screw operation.
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Article 3
Journal: The Spine Journal, September 2017
Title: Identifying subsets of patients with single-level degenerative disc disease for lumbar fusion: the value of prognostic tests in surgical decision making
Research Result: This article presents a test that surgeons can use on patients with severely degenerated discs to select the right type of patient for a fusion surgery. Thanks to the predictive value of the test, only patients who are expected to improve are operated on, preventing others from undergoing unnecessary risks and frustrations during a treatment that is not suitable for them.
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Article 4
Journal: World Neurosurgery, November 2017
Title: Recurrent Lumbar Disc Herniation After Tubular Microdiscectomy: Analysis of Learning Curve Progression
Research Result: "Higher volume, better outcome." Even if you have performed a certain type of surgery many times as a surgeon, if you focus even more, you become even better and faster at it, even if you are already advanced in your career.
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Article 5
Journal: International Orthopedics, January 2017
Title: Minimally invasive transaxial lumbosacral interbody fusion: a ten-year single-center experience
Research Result: We studied the surgical outcomes of our patients who had disc problems after 10 years. We performed minimally invasive surgery, meaning with a smaller wound. We compared our results with those of patients who had undergone traditional surgeries (with larger wounds). Conclusion: the results of minimally invasive surgeries are just as good, but the adverse effects that come with any surgery (after all, you are making a back wound) are smaller with minimally invasive surgeries. There is less blood loss, less risk of infections, and the recovery time is shorter.
This is how our profession advances
Individual doctors carefully try out new techniques to improve care. You must never be too optimistic or reckless in this, as patients are not guinea pigs. You always need to measure and document the results of your new methods carefully, so you can draw conclusions based on the evidence. Nowadays, you can share these conclusions with the entire world very quickly. The journals mentioned above are the key media that matter in our field. Doctors from all over the world can now be inspired by what we have achieved in Naarden, just as we draw inspiration from their research and results, with the goal of serving you better. If you couldn't follow the details of the above, I hope you'll at least take away that thought.
I also hope it strikes you how unique it is that a small independent treatment center contributes to the international scientific literature. Bergman Clinics is not a large academic hospital where doctors train hordes of students. Victor and I had to work hard in our small team, but with great freedom and therefore quick decision-making. No bureaucratic hassle, no endless meetings about procedures and protocols. Working for patients, as I said, is very fulfilling. Contributing to the development of your field and having an inspiring collaboration with a representative of a generation that will soon follow you is also rewarding. It feels good to be part of progress. More publications will follow, and we have many more plans. Thanks to the work we're doing today, Victor and his colleagues will be able to treat your children even better in the future.
