The annual report, which reviews procedures performed between 2015 and 2023, offers trends to guide physician and patient decision making to improve spine care.
Published 4/17/2025
The American Spine Registry (ASR), an unprecedented partnership between the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and AAOS, released its first edition Annual Report today. The report, which reviews procedures performed between 2015 and 2023, offers trends to guide physician and patient decision making to improve spine care.
“The ASR has integrated innovative methodologies and established new benchmarks for quality improvement. These efforts have provided valuable insights into the treatment trends for spine care, while highlighting opportunities to refine care pathways and achieve better outcomes for patients,” said Steven D. Glassman, MD, FAAOS, appointee co-chair of the ASR. Read on for insights from the report.
Lumbar module
ASR has collected data on 230,159 lumbar spine procedures. Posterior lumbar interbody fusion and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion are the most frequently captured type of procedure at 32.3 percent of cases, followed by laminectomy or posterior decompression and other decompressions (29.6 percent), then posterior lumbar fusion (28.7 percent).
Cervical module
ASR has collected data on 112,683 cervical spine procedures. The procedure category with the most captured procedures is anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), which accounts for 63.2 percent of procedures. Posterior fusion follows ACDF for most procedures at 23.8%, followed by posterior laminectomy at 7.8%. The top three reported cervical diagnoses include spinal stenosis (57.8 percent ), radiculopathy (42.3 percent), and myelopathy (35.7 percent).
PROMs
Patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) collection and analysis are high-value components that will continue to play an integral part in healthcare quality improvement. ASR collects PROMs and encourages sites to submit data at set intervals: a baseline measure obtained prior to surgery, a measure 90 days after discharge, and at 1 year postoperatively.
ASR growth
Although the report features data submitted in 2023, by the end of 2024, 318 institutions were submitting data to the ASR from across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This represents a 5.65 percent increase in institutions and a 17.86 percent increase in procedures from the previous year.
Why it matters
Degenerative spine disease is a pervasive health issue, causing significant pain, disability, and healthcare costs. Traditional methods of assessing the quality of spine care have often relied on limited data sources, making it difficult to identify best practices and measure outcomes. The ASR has emerged as a powerful tool for driving innovation and improving patient outcomes.
The complete ASR 2025 Annual Report as well as the slides with facts and figures are available online.