I have had the pleasure of working with a group of excellent authors while compiling this edition of the Journal of the Southern Orthopaedic Association. The authors were asked to comment, in varying degrees of depth, on the management of spinal disorders or on specific new technology. The result is an edition that provides excellent material for those beginning the practice of spine surgery, for the orthopaedic surgeon who sees patients with spinal pathology as part of a larger scope of practice, and for the surgeon who limits his practice to those with spinal pathology. Heller and Schimandle provide a brace of articles detailing the nonoperative and operative treatment of cervical degenerative disk disease. Their approach is well-founded in the natural history of the disease and in correlating physical findings with the patient's history.
Emphasis is placed on obtaining the correct imaging study at the appropriate time.
Signs and symptoms are then compared with findings of the imaging study before treatment plans are made. Fellrath and Hanley present an article concerning the diagnosis and management of spinal stenosis. Their discussions range from the pathogenesis of spinal stenosis to the appropriate clinical evaluation of patients suspected to have spinal stenosis. They complete the article with a framework in which to plan nonoperative and operative treatment of patients with stenosis. Albert and Balderston present a discussion of the management of adult scoliosis, a difficult condition to manage successfully.