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The Surgeon

A surgeon's job is not
to be busy. It's to be right.

I'm Dr. Arash Sayari — a fellowship-trained spine surgeon practicing in Chicago. I treat cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine conditions using both the most advanced techniques available and the oldest tool in medicine: paying attention.

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Dr. Arash Sayari portrait
The training

From Westwood to
the Loop — by way of
Miami and Los Angeles.

I grew up wanting to understand how bodies fail and how to help them heal. That curiosity took me through UCLA, then medical school at the University of Miami (Alpha Omega Alpha, Magna Cum Laude), then an orthopaedic residency at Rush University here in Chicago — where I was later named Teacher of the Year in 2021.

After residency, I completed a spine surgery fellowship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, training under some of the most respected spine surgeons in the country on robotics, motion preservation, and minimally invasive technique. I returned to Rush as faculty to build a practice that combines that technical training with an active research agenda — and above all, a patient-first approach. I have since been able to pair my expertise with my experience to provide concierge-level minimally invasive spine care with you in mind.

  1. 2022 —
    Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush
    Faculty, Spine Surgery · Chicago, IL
  2. 2021–22
    Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
    Fellowship in Spine Surgery · Los Angeles, CA
  3. 2016–21
    Rush University Medical Center
    Orthopaedic Surgery Residency · Chicago, IL
  4. 2014–15
    USC Keck School of Medicine
    Research Fellow, Spine Surgery · Los Angeles, CA
  5. 2011–16
    University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
    Doctor of Medicine · Miami, FL
  6. 2007–11
    University of California, Los Angeles
    B.S., Magna Cum Laude, University Honors · Los Angeles, CA
Philosophy

Evidence,
restraint,
and time.

01

Listen First.

Most of what I need to know shows up in the first fifteen minutes of conversation — before I've looked at a single MRI. I don't rush that part.

02

Operate Only When Necessary.

The best operation is often the one not performed. When surgery isn't the right answer, I'll tell you directly and help you find a better path.

03

Preserve What's Working.

Minimally invasive and motion-preserving techniques when the anatomy allows — smaller incisions, faster recovery, more of your own spine kept intact.

04

Never Stop Learning.

I write, present, teach, and review. Medicine moves fast; my patients deserve a surgeon who moves with it.

Beyond the OR

Family, football,
fiction, and the occasional long flight.

Outside the hospital, I'm a husband and father first. I travel when I can, follow the beautiful game closely, and believe strongly in the restorative powers of a long walk and a very strong cup of coffee. My patients often hear about these things — I think they matter.

  • EN English · native
  • FA Farsi · native
  • ES Spanish · conversational
71
peer-reviewed works
9
book chapters
∞
patients first
Curriculum Vitae

Credentials & record.

A board-certified orthopaedic spine surgeon with an active academic record — 71 peer-reviewed publications, 9 book chapters, and more than 70 national and international presentations. A selection appears below; the full bibliography is available on request.

§ 01Licensure & Certifications

  • American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (2023)
  • Illinois Medical License No. 336.119122 (2022)
  • California Medical License No. 171801 (2021)
  • BLS & ACLS Certified
  • NPI # 1760837249
  • USMLE Step 1, 2CK, 2CS, 3 — Pass

§ 02Honors & Awards

2021
Teacher of the Year, Rush University Medical Center
2019
Runner-Up Best Paper, Annual Rush University Surgical Symposium
2016
Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, UMMSM
2015
Second Place, Outstanding Clinical Oral Presentation — Eastern-Atlantic Student Research Forum
2014
Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Student Service Leadership Award — $9,000 grant
2013
Semifinalist, University of Miami Business Plan Competition
2011
Magna Cum Laude & University Honors, UCLA

§ 03Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications

A curated selection from 71 peer-reviewed journal articles. Full bibliography available on request.

  1. 01
    Endplate abnormalities, Modic changes and their relationship to alignment parameters and surgical outcomes in the cervical spine.
    Journal of Orthopaedic Research · 2022
  2. 02
    Single-Position Anterior Column Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion.
    International Journal of Spine Surgery · 2022
  3. 03
    Segmental Range of Motion Following Cervical Total Disc Arthroplasty at Long-Term Follow-Up: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
    Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine · 2022
  4. 04
    Stand-Alone Cage versus Anterior Plating for One- and Two-Level Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
    Clinical Spine Surgery · 2022
  5. 05
    Pediatric Back Pain: a Scoring System to Guide Use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
    Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics · 2022
  6. 06
    Artificial Intelligence in Spine Care: Current Applications and Future Utility.
    European Spine Journal · 2021
  7. 07
    Artificial intelligence predicts disk re-herniation following lumbar microdiscectomy: development of the "RAD" risk profile.
    European Spine Journal · 2021
  8. 08
    Novel Inflammation-Preserving Treatment for Symptomatic Lumbar Disc Herniation: a Prospective Imaging and Clinical Outcomes Study.
    European Spine Journal · 2021
  9. 09
    Spontaneous Resorption of Lumbar Disc Herniation — epidemiology, risk factors, mechanisms, and future directions.
    JBJS Reviews · 2021
  10. 10
    Success of Surgical Simulation in Orthopaedic Training and Applications in Spine Surgery.
    Clinical Spine Surgery · 2020
  11. 11
    Personal Health of Spine Surgeons Can Impact Perceptions, Decision-Making and Healthcare Delivery During the COVID-19 Pandemic — A Worldwide Study.
    Neurospine · 2020
  12. 12
    Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma to the Spine and Extremities: Evaluation, Diagnosis, and Treatment.
    JBJS Reviews · 2019
  13. 13
    Review of Robotic-Assisted Surgery: What the Future Looks Like Through a Spine Oncology Lens.
    Annals of Translational Medicine · 2019
  14. 14
    Devices for the MIS TLIF Procedural Solution in Spine Surgery.
    Expert Review of Medical Devices · 2018
  15. 15
    Risk and cost of reoperation after single level posterior cervical foraminotomy: a large database study.
    Global Spine Journal · 2017

§ 04Textbook & Book Chapters

  1. 01
    Lateral Lumbar Fusion
    The Spine, Ch. 10 · Elsevier, 2026
  2. 02
    State of the Art for Metastatic Histologies
    Surgical Spinal Oncology, Ch. 14 · Springer, 2020
  3. 03
    Spine Tumors: Technological Advances
    Surgical Spinal Oncology · Springer, 2020
  4. 04
    Robotic-Assisted Spine Surgery: Application of Preoperative and Intraoperative Imaging
    Seminars in Spine Surgery · Elsevier, 2019
  5. 05
    Stress Fractures of the Spine in Sport
    Fractures in Sport · Springer, 2019
  6. 06
    Stress Fractures of the Lumbar Spine
    Stress Fractures in Athletes · Springer, 2019
  7. 07
    Case Selection for Spine Surgery in the Ambulatory Setting
    Seminars in Spine Surgery · Elsevier, 2018
  8. 08
    Bone Graft Options, Substitutes, and Harvest Techniques
    Cervical Trauma, Ch. 22 · Thieme, 2017
  9. 09
    Hand Fractures
    Pocket Orthopaedics · Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2015

§ 05Invited & Selected Presentations

Selected from 26 national/international oral presentations and 46 posters.

  1. 01
    Novel Inflammation-Preserving Treatment for Symptomatic Lumbar Disc Herniation
    Orthopedic Research Society (ORS), Tampa, FL · 2022
  2. 02
    Operative Time and Radiographic Differences Between Lateral and Supine ALIF
    American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), San Diego · 2021
  3. 03
    Predicting Disc Re-Herniation After Lumbar Decompression: A Machine Learning Approach
    International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine (ISSLS) · 2021
  4. 04
    Comparison of Stand-alone Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion and Open Laminectomy
    North American Spine Society (NASS), Chicago · 2019
  5. 05
    Establishing Maximal Medical Improvement Following Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion
    NASS, Chicago · 2019
  6. 06
    Equivalent Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Open Posterior Lumbar Fusion With and Without Prior Laminectomy
    ISASS Annual Meeting, Anaheim · 2019

§ 06Editorial & Peer Review

  • Editorial Board, Clinical Spine Surgery (2023 —)
  • Reviewer, North American Spine Surgery Journal (NASSJ)
  • Reviewer, World Neurosurgery

§ 07Memberships

  • AO Spine
  • North American Spine Society
  • American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
  • Global Spine Congress
  • Lumbar Spine Research Society
On request

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