Chief, Spine Division
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis
Dr. Brian Neuman is Chief of Spine Surgery and Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Washington University in St. Louis. He provides personalized spine care for pediatric and adult patients, specializing in the surgical treatment of complex spinal deformity conditions and complex revision surgery for the treatment of scoliosis, kyphosis, flatback syndrome, nonunion, and malalignment. He also has an interest in treating degenerative conditions (stenosis, spondylolisthesis, disc herniation, etc.) of the spine.
Dr. Neuman earned his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA. He completed his residency training in Orthopaedic surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA, and fellowship training in Orthopaedic spine surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO. Prior to joining Washington University Orthopedics, Dr. Neuman was an Associate Professor at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.
Dr. Neuman’s research focuses on developing tools and frameworks to enhance the understanding of recovery and outcomes in adult spinal deformity (ASD) surgery. He has created indices to quantify the invasiveness of ASD procedures and assess patient frailty, aiming to compare recovery, complications, and outcomes across different levels of surgical invasiveness and frailty. Additionally, he is evaluating the use and interpretation of PROMIS outcome measures in ASD patients, working to integrate invasiveness, frailty, and PROMIS data into personalized risk profiles to guide point-of-care discussions and improve patient understanding of surgical expectations. His work also extends to exploring biological age and recovery kinematics as novel tools for assessing surgical outcomes.
Through cross-institutional collaborative studies, Dr. Neuman has further investigated factors influencing recovery and complications after ASD surgery. He has identified predictive factors for short-term recovery, analyzed the timing and frequency of complications, and highlighted early post-operative functional status as a critical predictor of short-term outcomes. Future research will focus on how personalized discussions based on these findings can enhance patient satisfaction and expectations of treatment outcomes.
Beyond research, another impactful contribution to the field of spine surgery is through the education and training of spine fellows at Washington University in St. Louis. He works with his group at Washington University Orthopaedics to train fellows on the appropriate diagnosis, non-operative management, and surgical management of ASD patients. As Co-Director of Washington University's spine fellowship, he makes it a priority to ensure fellows are ready to manage patients independently.