Distance Patients Will Travel for Specialty Endoscopic Spine Surgery Care

Area of Science:

• Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery
• Health Services Research
• Patient Preference Measurement

Background:

• Endoscopic spine surgery offers a minimally invasive approach to spinal pathology.
• Access to specialized endoscopic spine surgery is limited due to a scarcity of trained surgeons.
• Patient travel distance can serve as an objective measure of preference for specialized healthcare.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify patient travel distance as a proxy for preference for specialized, minimally invasive spine care.
• To characterize the types of spinal pathologies treated with endoscopic spine surgery.
• To determine the frequency of revision surgeries and compare travel distances based on pathology and revision status.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of the first 100 consecutive patients undergoing endoscopic spine surgery.
• Calculation of travel distances as straight-line distances from patient residence to the institute.
• Descriptive and comparative statistical analyses were performed.

Main Results:

• The mean travel distance was 308.4 miles, with patients traveling from across the US and internationally.
• The majority of surgeries addressed lumbar pathologies (62%), followed by cervical (20%) and thoracic (18%).
• Revision cases (29% of total) showed significantly greater travel distances compared to primary cases (P < 0.05).

Conclusions:

• Patients demonstrate a willingness to travel significant distances for specialized, minimally invasive spine surgery.
• Travel distance is a valuable behavioral metric for assessing patient preference, complementing traditional quality indicators.
• Findings support the centralization of specialized spine surgery services and inform healthcare resource allocation.