SMISS History

In 2006, a group of surgeons who specialized in minimally invasive spine surgery gathered in San Diego for the first academic meeting organized by the University of California San Diego, which focused exclusively on minimally invasive spine procedures. The meeting was a huge success and uncovered a clear set of needs.

The relevance of a meeting dedicated to teaching MISS techniques was immediately recognized; so, a second, larger meeting was organized in 2007. A small sub-set of surgeons recognized the need for a non-aligned, non-profit academic body to define, standardize and teach the new approaches to MISS techniques.

The Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (SMISS) was officially formed as a non-profit organization in 2007 and nine Board of Directors, who in large part corresponded to the original members, registered the first SMISS Bylaws and managed the organization.

In 2008, the first official SMISS Annual Forum was held in Las Vegas, Nevada with 112 medical attendees.

Membership was launched in May 2009 and by the end of 2009, membership reached 99.

The first cadaver training course held in conjunction with the Annual Forum was held in 2010 with 55 registrants and 11 stations.

In December 2020, SMISS acquired the Society for Lateral Access Surgery (SOLAS).