Newswise — July 24, 2019, Schaumburg, Il. The Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves (Spine Section), a joint subspecialty section of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), made one of the largest gifts to date to the Congress of Neurological Surgeons Foundation (CNS Foundation). The $300,000 gift will fund a three-year project to develop a comprehensive set of clinical practice guidelines on the topic of Perioperative Spine Surgery, including preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative guidelines.

“We are profoundly grateful to the Spine Section for their generosity to fund new Perioperative Spine Surgery Guidelines,” said Elad I. Levy, MD, MBA, FACS, FAHA, Chair of the CNS Foundation. “The CNS Foundation has entered a new stage of philanthropy. Through the CNS Foundation, we as a community of physicians and scientists can play an increasingly meaningful role in supporting essential tools such as guidelines for neurosurgery.”

“The development of these guidelines will provide neurosurgeons and other specialty healthcare providers with evidence that has been systemically reviewed by experts across the neurosurgery domain,” said Praveen Mummaneni, MD, Spine Section member and CNS Treasurer. “This project is just as important to the patient as it is to all spine surgeons. Over the next three years, these perioperative guidelines will advance our practice tremendously.”

“The CNS Foundation plays a pivotal role in new guidelines for neurosurgeons,” said CNS President, Ganesh Rao, MD. “Guidelines are a critical tool to confront a rapidly changing health care environment. We have seen the demand for CNS Guideline projects more than double in the last five years. To keep up with demand, the CNS Foundation provides the philanthropic support necessary to fund these essential tools,” said Dr. Rao.

CNS Guidelines Overview – As a leader in education and innovation, the CNS recognizes high quality, evidence-based guidelines as a critical tool to help improve the quality of health care.  The CNS supports an infrastructure, including robust, methodological processes to produce high-quality evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. Endorsement of these guidelines is achieved in partnership with the Joint Guidelines Review Committee and the joint sub-specialty sections, which continue to provide the scientific content experts essential to quality guidelines formulation. Each CNS guideline consists of topic chapters, a set of PICO questions for each chapter, recommendations, and discussion of the available evidence and future research needs. Each chapter is based on a robust systematic review.

In addition to the development, review and dissemination of guidelines, gifts to the CNS Foundation also support clinical scientist career development through the prestigious NINDS/CNSF Getch K12 Scholar Award, as well as international philanthropy.

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About CNS Foundation The CNS Foundation’s philanthropic mission is to improve worldwide patient health by supporting innovative programs that allow neurosurgeons to collaborate globally as researchers, learners, educators and caregivers. Based in Schaumburg, Illinois, the three mission pillars are international philanthropy, clinical scientist career development and neurosurgical guidelines development, review and dissemination. The 2019 “Matched for the Mission” campaign will match all gifts from individuals and medical societies until the entire $1 million is matched. For more information about the CNS Foundation or to make your gift, please go to https://www.cns.org/about-us/foundation, or contact Courtney Johnson, Manager of Foundation & Giving, at [email protected].

 About the Congress of Neurological Surgeons The Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) is the global leader in neurosurgical education, serving to promote health by advancing neurosurgery through innovation and excellence in education. The CNS provides leadership in neurosurgery by inspiring and facilitating scientific discovery and its translation into clinical practice. The CNS maintains the vitality of the profession through volunteer efforts of its members and the development of leadership in service to the public, to colleagues in other disciplines, and to neurosurgeons throughout the world in all stages of their professional lives. For more information, visit cns.org.