Can anatomical feasibility studies drive neurosurgical procedures and reach patients faster than traditional translational research?

Often, surgical techniques are practiced and studied in the anatomy laboratory. Occasionally, new surgical methods are developed with cadaveric anatomical studies. Some cadaveric feasibility studies, if published, might go on to be used by surgeons from around the world for improved patient care. Herein, we review our experience with 37 published anatomical feasibility studies over an 18-year period (2002-2020) and analyze the literature for published examples of surgical application of these same anatomical studies. We found that, for cadaveric anatomical feasibility studies within 7 years of their publication date, approximately 22% will be used in neurosurgery with the clinical applications published. Of these studies awarded clinical citation within 7 years of publication, the median time to that citation was approximately 3.4 years. As the average time for translational research to reach patient care is 17 years, cadaveric anatomical studies in this series reached patient care much sooner than traditional translational research. Cadaveric anatomical studies, based on our experience, can drive neurosurgical procedures.