Barrett S. Boody, M.D., Spine Surgery

Research and teaching

The surgeon who teaches spine surgeons.

Spine fellows are fully trained orthopedic or neurological surgeons spending a further year learning spine surgery. At Indiana Spine Group, Dr. Boody is core faculty for that fellowship. Fellows work alongside him in clinic and in the operating room, and they learn the same way his patients do: mechanism first, then the decision.

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Teaching appointments & lectures

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Core faculty, ISG spine surgery fellowshipTrains fellowship surgeons at Indiana Spine Group
Fellowship
Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic SurgeryIndiana University School of Medicine
University
Co-chair, CSRS 29th Instructional CourseCervical Spine Research Society, December 2024
National course
Lecture, Deformity Principles for the Degenerative SurgeonSeattle Science Foundation, December 2020
Lecture

He holds an appointment as Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Indiana University School of Medicine, and in December 2024 he co-chaired the Cervical Spine Research Society's 29th Instructional Course, a national teaching meeting for cervical spine surgeons.

"The surgical evaluation and treatment of my patients will always be at the core of what I do as a spine surgeon, and I am incredibly fortunate to have the ability at Indiana Spine Group to pursue my interests in medical education and research."
Barrett S. Boody, M.D.

Books, journals & clinical research

Evidence he helps write, review, and test.

His work includes more than 80 publications, books, and book chapters. Explore the editorial and research roles behind that record.

Clinical research & advisory work

Research topics

The questions behind the studies.

Most of his papers start with a decision he faces in clinic. Choose a topic to read about the work behind it.

Disc replacement & fusionDoes a cervical disc replacement hold up as long as a fusion?

Disc arthroplasty keeps the neck moving where a fusion locks it. The question is what happens to the implant and the neighboring levels over decades. Dr. Boody co-authored twenty-year radiographic outcomes from a prospective randomized trial of single-level cervical disc arthroplasty (Spine, 2024), ten-year data on adjacent-level ossification after arthroplasty versus ACDF (2020), and a comparison of two-level ACDF against two-level arthroplasty (2019). He has also studied what happens when an ACDF has not fused by two years, and when cord compression seen on MRI should be treated before symptoms appear.

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Adjacent levels & alignmentWhy does the level next to a fusion wear out, and can alignment prevent it?

Adjacent segment disease is the most common reason patients return years after a fusion. With Segar and colleagues he asked whether restoring the natural segmental lordosis in a one-level fusion reduces adjacent segment disease (Clinical Spine Surgery, 2020). Related lumbar work asks how little surgery is enough: whether decompressing a symptomatic facet cyst requires a fusion when the spine is stable (2021), and when a far lateral approach lets a nerve be freed without disturbing the joint (2021).

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Spine infectionHow should surgical site infection be prevented and treated?

Infection after spine surgery is uncommon but serious. Dr. Boody was a co-author of the consensus series on surgical site infection in spine surgery led by Kepler and colleagues (Clinical Spine Surgery, 2020), which set out agreed practices for prevention, diagnosis, and management. He also wrote a review of the evaluation and management of pyogenic and tubercular spine infections (2018), covering when antibiotics alone are enough and when surgery is required.

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Surgical training & patient outcomesHow do we train surgeons, and how do we measure what patients feel?

Two questions, one goal: better outcomes. On training, he studied whether bioskills practice on a simulator improves lumbar pedicle screw placement (Global Spine Journal, 2018), work that informs how he teaches fellows today. On measurement, he helped validate PROMIS computer adaptive tests in cervical spine surgery (Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, 2018), so that the outcomes reported after surgery reflect what patients actually experience.

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Recognition

Awards and memberships.

Recognition from physician peers, research organizations, and the spine community. Select an award to explore the supporting source.

Professional memberships

Part of the wider spine community.

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Publication record

Explore the papers.

36 PubMed-indexed articles, grouped by year. His 80-plus total also includes book chapters, textbook sections, and other publications not indexed by PubMed.

20241 paper
  1. Foley DP, Sasso WR, Ye JY, Vinayek S, Smucker JD, McCarthy MH, Boody BS, Sasso RC. Twenty-Year Radiographic Outcomes Following Single-Level Cervical Disc Arthroplasty: Results From a Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial. Spine. 2024. PMID 38018773. DOI
20223 papers
  1. McCormick ZL, Sperry BP, Boody BS, Hirsch JA, Conger A, Harper K, Lotz JC, Burnham TR. Pain Location and Exacerbating Activities Associated with Treatment Success Following Basivertebral Nerve Ablation: An Aggregated Cohort Study of Multicenter Prospective Clinical Trial Data. Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.). 2022. PMID 35856332. DOI
  2. Boody BS, Sperry BP, Harper K, Macadaeg K, McCormick ZL. The Relationship Between Patient Demographic and Clinical Characteristics and Successful Treatment Outcomes After Basivertebral Nerve Radiofrequency Ablation: A Pooled Cohort Study of Three Prospective Clinical Trials. Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.). 2022. PMID 35856330. DOI
  3. McCarthy M, Swiatek PR, Roumeliotis AG, Gerlach E, Kim J, Boody BS, Shauver M, Hsu WK, Patel AA. Comparison of Lumbar Fusion With and Without Interbody Fusion for Lumbar Stenosis Using Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT). Cureus. 2022. PMID 35481323. DOI
20213 papers
  1. Boody BS, Smucker JD, Sasso RC, Segar AH, Protopsaltis TS. Does the Decompression of Symptomatic Lumbar Facet Cysts Without Instability Require Fusion? Clinical spine surgery. 2021. PMID 33633054. DOI
  2. Toombs CS, Boody BS, Bronson WH, Girasole GJ, Russo GS. Safe Spine Surgery During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Clinical spine surgery. 2021. PMID 33027092. DOI
  3. Boody BS, Sasso RC, Smucker JD. Far Lateral/Extraforaminal Approaches for Microdiscectomy and Foraminal Decompression in the Lumbar Spine. Clinical spine surgery. 2021. PMID 32568862. DOI
202012 papers
  1. Lee CJ, Boody BS, Demeter J, Smucker JD, Sasso RC. Long-Term Radiographic and Functional Outcomes of Patients With Absence of Radiographic Union at 2 Years After Single-Level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion. Global spine journal. 2020. PMID 32707013. DOI
  2. Boody BS, Smucker JD, Sasso W, Miller JW, Snowden R, Sasso RC. Evaluation of DIAM™ Spinal Stabilization System for lower lumbar disc degenerative disease: A randomized, prospective, single-site study. Journal of orthopaedics. 2020. PMID 32256000. DOI
  3. Boody BS, Lee EN, Sasso WR, Vinayek S, Demeter JM, Sasso RC, Smucker JD. Functional Outcomes Associated With Adjacent-level Ossification Disease 10 Years After Cervical Disc Arthroplasty or ACDF. Clinical spine surgery. 2020. PMID 32149745. DOI
  4. McCarthy MH, Boody BS, Swiatek PR, Rosenthal BD, Savage J, Hsu WK, Patel AA. The perceived efficacy and utility of spine bioskills curricula for resident and fellow education. Journal of orthopaedics. 2020. PMID 32042235. DOI
  5. Segar AH, Protopsaltis TS, Boody BS, Smucker JD, Sasso RC. Do the Benefits of Routine Perioperative Chemoprophylaxis for Prevention of Thrombotic Events in Multilevel Posterior Surgery of the Cervical or Thoracic Spinal Cord Outweigh the Risks? Clinical spine surgery. 2020. PMID 31609800. DOI
  6. Segar AH, Robertson PA, Boody BS, Kepler CK. Does Restoration of Anatomic Segmental Lordosis Reduce the Rate of Adjacent Segment Disease in 1 Level Fusions for a Degenerative Spondylolisthesis? Clinical spine surgery. 2020. PMID 31569178. DOI
  7. Divi SN, Kepler CK, Segar AH, Russo GS, Bronson WH, Boody BS, Galetta MS, Goyal DKC, Fang T, Schroeder GD, Vaccaro AR. Role of Imaging, Tissue Sampling, and Biomarkers for Diagnosis of SSI in Spine Surgery. Clinical spine surgery. 2020. PMID 31567424. DOI
  8. Galetta MS, Kepler CK, Divi SN, Boody BS, Bronson WH, Segar AH, Russo GS, Mujica V, Yayac M, Goyal DKC, Fang T, Schroeder GD, Vaccaro AR. Consensus on Risk Factors and Prevention in SSI in Spine Surgery. Clinical spine surgery. 2020. PMID 31464694. DOI
  9. Divi SN, Kepler CK, Boody BS, Bronson WH, Russo GS, Segar AH, Galetta MS, Goyal DKC, Fang T, Schroeder GD, Vaccaro AR. Consensus on Implants in Infections After Spine Surgery. Clinical spine surgery. 2020. PMID 31404014. DOI
  10. Kepler CK, Divi SN, Russo GS, Segar AH, Boody BS, Bronson WH, Tarazona DA, Cifuentes E, Asma A, Galetta MS, Goyal DKC, Fang T, Schroeder GD, Vaccaro AR. Consensus on the Role of Antibiotic Use in SSI Following Spinal Surgery. Clinical spine surgery. 2020. PMID 31393278. DOI
  11. Kepler CK, Divi SN, Bronson WH, Boody BS, Segar AH, Russo GS, Kaye ID, Sirch FJ, Galetta MS, Goyal DKC, Fang T, Schroeder GD, Vaccaro AR. General Principles in the Consensus of SSI Management After Spine Surgery. Clinical spine surgery. 2020. PMID 31385851. DOI
  12. Galetta MS, Kepler CK, Divi SN, Russo GS, Segar AH, Boody BS, Bronson WH, Rihn JA, Goyal DKC, Fang T, Schroeder GD, Vaccaro AR. Consensus on Wound Care of SSI in Spine Surgery. Clinical spine surgery. 2020. PMID 31180993. DOI
20193 papers
  1. Bhatt S, Boody BS, Savage JW, Hsu WK, Rothrock NE, Patel AA. Validation of Patient-reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Computer Adaptive Tests in Lumbar Disk Herniation Surgery. The Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. 2019. PMID 30247310. DOI
  2. Boody BS, Lendner M, Vaccaro AR. Ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament in the cervical spine: a review. International orthopaedics. 2019. PMID 30116867. DOI
  3. Boody BS, Schroeder GD, Segar AH, Kepler CK. Should Asymptomatic Patients With Cervical Spinal Cord Compression and Spinal Cord Signal Change Undergo Surgical Intervention? Clinical spine surgery. 2019. PMID 29939844. DOI
20186 papers
  1. Boody BS, Tarazona DA, Vaccaro AR. Evaluation and Management of Pyogenic and Tubercular Spine Infections. Current reviews in musculoskeletal medicine. 2018. PMID 30280287. DOI
  2. Boody BS, Hashmi SZ, Rosenthal BD, Maslak JP, McCarthy MH, Patel AA, Savage JW, Hsu WK. The Effectiveness of Bioskills Training for Simulated Lumbar Pedicle Screw Placement. Global spine journal. 2018. PMID 30202708. DOI
  3. Rosenthal BD, Boody BS, Jenkins TJ, Hsu WK, Patel AA, Savage JW. Thoracolumbar Burst Fractures. Clinical spine surgery. 2018. PMID 29578877. DOI
  4. Patel AA, Dodwad SM, Boody BS, Bhatt S, Savage JW, Hsu WK, Rothrock NE. Validation of Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Computer Adaptive Tests (CATs) in the Surgical Treatment of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis. Spine. 2018. PMID 29557925. DOI
  5. Boody BS, Bhatt S, Mazmudar AS, Hsu WK, Rothrock NE, Patel AA. Validation of Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) computerized adaptive tests in cervical spine surgery. Journal of neurosurgery. Spine. 2018. PMID 29303468. DOI
  6. Schroeder GD, Boody BS, Kepler CK, Kurd MF, Silva S, Nicholson K, Wilson JR, Woods BI, Radcliff KE, Anderson DG, Hilibrand AS, Vaccaro AR, Rihn JA. Comparing Health-Related Quality of Life Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Either Primary or Revision Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion. Spine. 2018. PMID 29215496. DOI
20173 papers
  1. Boody BS, Rosenthal BD, Jenkins TJ, Patel AA, Savage JW, Hsu WK. The Effectiveness of Bioskills Training for Simulated Open Lumbar Laminectomy. Global spine journal. 2017. PMID 29238645. DOI
  2. Boody BS, Rosenthal BD, Jenkins TJ, Patel AA, Savage JW, Hsu WK. Iatrogenic Flatback and Flatback Syndrome: Evaluation, Management, and Prevention. Clinical spine surgery. 2017. PMID 28266956. DOI
  3. Rosenthal BD, Boody BS, Hsu WK. Return to Play for Athletes. Neurosurgery clinics of North America. 2017. PMID 27886878. DOI
20162 papers
  1. Boody BS, Savage JW. Evaluation and Treatment of Lumbar Facet Cysts. The Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. 2016. PMID 27792054. DOI
  2. Boody BS, Savage JW, Eck JC, Hodges SD. Steroid Use in Adult Patients With Incomplete Spinal Cord Injuries. Clinical spine surgery. 2016. PMID 26945130. DOI
20153 papers
  1. Boody BS, Jenkins TJ, Hashmi SZ, Hsu WK, Patel AA, Savage JW. Surgical Site Infections in Spinal Surgery. Journal of spinal disorders & techniques. 2015. PMID 26566255. DOI
  2. Boody BS, Omar IM, Hill JA. Displaced Medial and Lateral Bucket Handle Meniscal Tears With Intact ACL and PCL. Orthopedics. 2015. PMID 26270763. DOI
  3. Boody BS, Jenkins TJ, Maslak J, Hsu WK, Patel AA. Vertebral Osteomyelitis and Spinal Epidural Abscess: An Evidence-based Review. Journal of spinal disorders & techniques. 2015. PMID 26079841. DOI

Appointments

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Professional membership

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