Prevalence of interventional spine procedures performed by pain management physicians: blurred boundaries.
Over a quarter of interventional pain physicians performed spine procedures traditionally done by surgeons.
Prevalence of interventional spine procedures performed by pain management physicians: blurred boundaries.
Interventional pain management physicians (interventional pain management physicians) and spine surgeons are allies in treating spinal disorders.
This study aimed to determine the incidence of interventional pain management physicians performing interventional spinal procedures traditionally performed by spine surgeons.
Interventional pain management physicians were identified through the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians) DoctorFinder database.
74 of 269 pain physicians performed invasive spinal procedures like decompression or fusion.
Physician degrees included MD (n = 237) and DO (n = 32).
Some physicians held an additional degree (MS [n = 4], PhD [n = 4], and unspecified [n = 38]).
Of the 269 healthcare providers, 130 had Scopus research profiles (mean publications, 24.2; mean h-index, 6.0; mean citations, 925.6).
There were no significant differences in age (p = 0.62), publication number (p = 0.19), h-index (p = 0.53), citation count (p = 0.44), and fellowship incidence (p = 0.19) between interventional pain management physicians who performed interventional spine procedures and those who did not.
The incidence of invasive spine procedures performed by interventional pain management physicians is high.
Future studies must analyze patient-reported outcomes, and differences in the training for traditional spine surgery interventions performed by surgeons and interventional pain spinal procedures performed by interventional pain management physicians must be better defined.