Comparison of recovery speed for spinal surgery patients based on real-time location tracking system...Two-way endoscopy is faster

Jun 09, 2025

Comparison of spinal surgery patient recovery speed based on real-time location tracking system

A research team led by Professors Park Seob-ri and Kim Nam-hoo of orthopedics at Yonsei University Yongin Severance Hospital (Hospital Director Kim Eun-kyung) and Kim Kyung-min of endocrinology recently used a real-time location tracking system to compare and analyze the recovery speed according to the surgical method of patients with spinal stenosis.

The study, which was jointly conducted with professors Lee Byung-ho and Lee Jae-nam of spinal orthopedics at Gangnam Severance Hospital, was presented at the 42nd International Conference of the Korean Vertebral Surgery Association and received the Best Paper Award.

The research team analyzed the recovery speed of spinal stenosis patients who underwent traditional incisional decompression and bidirectional endoscopic spinal decompression from immediately after surgery to day 4. In the study, objective data such as walking distance, speed, and activity were secured by using the Real Time Location System (RTLS) established at Yongin Severance Hospital.

As a result of the study, the recovery speed (average walking distance and walking speed) of the patient group who underwent bidirectional endoscopic spinal decompression was statistically significantly faster compared to the conventional incision decompression group. In particular, among the top 20% of patients with high activity, the proportion of patients with bilateral endoscopic surgery was found to be about twice that of patients with incisional decompression.

Professor Park Seob-ri said, "This is the first international study to compare the speed of recovery after surgery in patients with spinal disease by securing gait data through RTLS, which Yongin Severance Hospital has introduced and operated since the beginning of its opening." "It is significant as an objective result of evaluating the actual amount of postoperative activity, not the subjective evaluation of the patient."

Meanwhile, Yongin Severance Hospital operates an international two-way spinal endoscopic surgery training center and conducts annual training programs for overseas medical staff in connection with the Asian Travelling Fellowship of the Taiwan-Japan Spinal Surgery Association and the Severance International Fellowship of the Yonsei Medical Center Jejungwon Health Development Institute.