The History, Present, and Future of Spine Surgery in Switzerland

Abstract

Despite being a rather small country (area, 41.285 km 2 ; population, 8.5 million), embedded in the center of surrounding Europe, Switzerland looks back on a long tradition of care for patients with diseases of the spine. It has always been a hub for innovation. The alpine landscape and the originally strong focus on physically demanding agricultural work in Switzerland inevitably led to early expertise with traumatic and degenerative spinal diseases. Several Swiss protagonists have therefore pioneered the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic, degenerative, but also infectious and oncological spinal conditions. 1 From a global perspective, the history of spine surgery is relatively much influenced by contributions of surgeons from the United Kingdom and North America. This is probably inevitable, taking into consideration that most articles on the history of neuro-and spine surgery stem from English-speaking authors who cannot take into account early works of authors published in German, French, or other languages. 2 The quality of Swiss spine care continuously improved, owing to the achievements of several eminent leaders and the early foundation of a neurosurgical department in Zurich in 1937 by Hugo Krayenbühl (1902-1985). 3 Today, there is a trend towards the foundation of interdisciplinary spine units at academic and larger nonuniversity hospitals. Several strong national spine societies, industry partners, and globally active organizations such as AOSpine and Eurospine are based in Switzerland and promote excellence in Swiss spine care. Spine surgery is an essential part of the training curriculum for neurosurgeons; however, less so for orthopedic spine surgeons. Endeavors are ongoing to harmonize operative spine care across those 2 specialties. An interdisciplinary subtitle for spine surgery was recently created and accepted by the Swiss Medical Council. This title expresses a special competence in spine surgery and can be achieved by board-certified neurosurgeons or orthopedic surgeons. This article aims to provide an overview of some of the past achievements, present issues, and a possible future outlook of Swiss spine surgery.

History of Spinal Neurosurgery and Spine Societies

“…Spine care in Switzerland is based primarily on the foundation of a neurosurgical department in Zurich in 1937 by Hugo Krayenbühl. 63 The Swiss Spine Society was founded in 1999 by 2 mother societies, the Swiss Neurosurgical Society and the Swiss Orthopaedics. Board committee members are equally elected from neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery, and the chair rotates every second year to reduce the natural friction of both groups.…”