The American Spine Registry (ASR), a collaboration between the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, has released its inaugural annual report which provides data for procedures performed between 2015 and 2023.
As of the end of 2024, 318 institutions from all 50 states and the District of Columbia were submitting data to the American Spine Registry—a 5.65% increase in institutions and a 17.86% increase in procedures from the previous year.
American Spine Registry data now include:
Lumbar Module – data on 230,159 lumbar spine procedures. Posterior lumbar interbody fusion and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion is the most frequently captured procedure at 32.3% of cases, followed by laminectomy or posterior decompression and other decompressions (29.6%), and posterior lumbar fusion (28.7%).
Cervical Module – data on 112,683 cervical spine procedures. The procedure category with the most captured procedures is anterior cervical discectomy and fusion which accounts for 63.2% of procedures. Posterior fusion follows anterior cervical discectomy and fusion for most procedures at 23.8% followed by posterior laminectomy at 7.8%. The top three reported cervical diagnoses include spinal stenosis (57.8%), radiculopathy (42.3%) and myelopathy (35.7%).

Patient-Reported Outcome Measures – a high-value component that will continue to play an integral part in healthcare quality improvement. The American Spine Registry collects Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMS) and encourages sites to submit this data at set intervals: a baseline measure obtained prior to surgery, a measure 90-days post-discharge and at one-year postoperatively.

“The American Spine Registry has added institutions and providers consistently over the past several years,” explained Steven D. Glassman, M.D., co-chair (along with Hospital for Special Surgery’s Todd Albert, M.D.) of the American Spine Registry Executive Committee to OTW. “Our target, which we have exceeded in prior years, is to add 60 additional institutions in 2025.”
Furthermore, said Dr. Glassman, “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.”
When OTW asked Dr. Glassman about the registry’s more interesting milestones, he said, “The most important milestone over the last year is that American Spine Registry has reached a threshold where the data has become actionable for an increasing range of American Spine Registry participants and industry partners.”
“With over 400,000 enrolled cases, American Spine Registry data has the potential to meaningfully impact quality of care both nationally and at the individual practice level.”
“The American Spine Registry data is unique in that it combines case volumes only seen in national databases with added granularity through mechanisms including linked Patient-Reported Outcome Measures and surgeon specified diagnostic data. This offers a realistic mechanism to drive more effective quality improvement through both traditional research platforms and more real-time through physician and hospital dashboards.”