American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgeons

The American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgeons was founded in January 1978 by eighteen North American neurosurgeons and was dedicated to the advancement of all aspects of the subspecialty of pediatric neurological surgery. The Society's membership has grown to include virtually all North American neurosurgeons who devote a substantial majority of their practice to the care of pediatric patients, and now has well over 100 neurosurgeons on its active membership roster.

The purpose of the American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgeons shall be to improve the neurosurgical care of the children of the United States and Canada by advancing and advocating the specialty of Pediatric Neurosurgery. The Society is committed to discovering, defining and delivering the best care for patients with pediatric neurosurgical disease regardless of their age. We are further committed to dissemination of this information to all providers who care for these patients and to being the primary source of this information for physicians in training.

The Society shall accomplish this goal by:

Identifying individuals who meet its criteria for being Pediatric Neurosurgeons and show a continuing dedication to the practice of Pediatric Neurosurgery.

Providing leadership on the identification and dissemination of the knowledge and the science of Pediatric Neurosurgery, including, but not limited to, conducting regular scientific meetings.

Providing leadership in the education of all medical professionals, to include monitoring and ascertaining the appropriate neurosurgical care of patients with pediatric neurosurgical disease (the Society recognizes that in some cases these disease processes start in childhood and extend throughout life).

Providing guidance for the non-medical public, including pediatric neurosurgical patients and their families.

Advocating for children on issues of importance to their neurological health.

The ASPN holds an annual meeting every winter for the membership and invited guests.

The official journal of the ASPN is The Journal of Neurosurgery Pediatrics.

The number of children with complex medical conditions surviving to adulthood is increasing. A planned transition to adult care systems is essential to the health maintenance of these patients. Guidance has been established for the general healthcare transition (HCT) from adolescence to adulthood. No formal assessment of the performance of pediatric neurosurgeons in HCT has been previously performed. No “best practice” for this process in pediatric neurosurgery currently exists.

Rocque et al. pursued two goals in a paper: 1) define the current state of HCT in pediatric neurosurgery through a survey of the membership of the American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgeons (ASPN) on current methods of HCT, and 2) develop leadership-endorsed best-practice guidelines for HCT from pediatric to adult neurosurgical Healthcare.

Completion of the Current Assessment of Healthcare Transition Activities survey was requested of 178 North American pediatric neurosurgeons by using a web-based questionnaire to capture HCT practices of the ASPN membership. The authors concurrently conducted a PubMed/MEDLINE-based literature review of HCT for young adults with special Healthcare needs, surgical conditions, and/or neurological conditions for the period from 1990 to 2018. Selected articles were assembled and reviewed by subject matter experts and members of the ASPN Quality, Safety, and Advocacy Committee. Best-practice recommendations were developed and subjected to peer review by external expert groups.

Seventy-six responses to the survey (43%) were received, and 62 respondents (82%) answered all 12 questions. Scores of 1 (lowest possible score) were recorded by nearly 60% of respondents on transition policy, by almost 70% on transition tracking, by 85% on transition readiness, by at least 40% on transition planning as well as transfer of care, and by 53% on transition completion. Average responses on all core elements were < 2 on the established 4-point scale. Seven best-practice recommendations were developed and endorsed by the ASPN leadership.

The majority of pediatric neurosurgeons have transition practices that are poor, do not meet the needs of patients and families, and should be improved. A structured approach to transition, local engagement with adult neurosurgical providers, and national partnerships between pediatric and adult neurosurgery organizations are suggested to address current gaps in HCT for patients served by pediatric neurosurgeons ¹⁾.