Dear Colleagues,

I feel very privileged to be the person responsible for publishing this, the 1st issue, of our professional journal this year. It includes six clinical research studies, one basic science study, one case report, and one letter to the editor. I hope that each of you will take the time to review this issue very carefully and add the information and insights contained herein, to your already very well informed knowledge bases.

We are very happy to announce that JTSS is currently indexed in ten indices; Scopus, Ulakbim, Türkiye Atıf Dizini, Embase, J-Gate, Europub, Proquest, Gale Cengage learning, Ebsco Host and China Knowledge Resource Integrated.

The first study is a retrospective clinical study giving the results on “Dural Fibrosis in Spinal Surgery: Comparison of Ligamentum Flavum Sparing and Anti-Adhesion Gel Use Technique”. The second is about “Minimally Invasive Unilateral Hemilaminectomy Approach for the Removal of Spinal Schwannomas. Impact on Pain and Neurological Results”. In the third, one can read about a basic science study entitled “The Effect of Anti-inflammatory, Anti-oxidative, and Neuroprotective Characteristics of Aloperine on Experimental Acute Spinal Cord Injury in a Rat Model”. The fourth article is about “Decompression with Instrumentation in the Treatment of Upper-level Disc Herniations”. The authors of the fifth study examined “The Effect of Interferential Currents and TENS on Pain and Functionality in Patients with Chronic Mechanical Low Back Pain”. The sixth study discusses “Low-energy Vertebral Compression Fractures: Differential Diagnosis Between Osteoporotic and Malignant Fractures by Inflammatory Biomarkers” while, in the seventh, the authors wrote about “Osteoporotic Vertebral Fractures; Comparative Analysis of Unilateral and Bilateral Vertebroplasty Results”. The eighth article is a case report about “Coexistence of Spinal Dysraphism and Extrarenal Wilms Tumour: A Case Report and Review of the Literature”. The ninth article is a letter to the editor about “Epidural Anesthesia for Postoperative Analgesia Following Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery Anterior Vertebral Body Tethering”.

I hope you found this issue stimulating and informative. It’s my goal to provide you with the latest, and most up-to-date information in our field. I do this in an effort to keep all of us on the cutting edge of the latest research and developments.

I wish all our Turkish spinal surgeons and their families a healthy, peaceful, and prosperous year.

With kindest regards,

Editor in Chief
Metin Özalay, M.D., Prof.