Dr. Smit is a Pediatric Orthopedic Spine Surgeon and a Mid-Career Clinician-Scientist at CHEO. He is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Smit’s clinical interests include spinal deformity, complex hip pathologies, bone health, and fracture trauma. He leads our Spine Research Program and his research primarily focuses on the treatment of children with scoliosis, specifically vertebral body tethering. He is a Principal Investigator on over 10 studies at CHEO and the Site Investigator on two Health Canada Device trials for the treatment of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis.
Areas of interest: Spine, Hip, Bone Health
Research Projects
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Mitigating the Denosumab‑Induced Rebound Phenomenon with Alternating Short‑ and Long‑Acting Anti‑resorptive Therapy in a Young Boy with Severe OI Type V
03/03/2023
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Low radius of curvature growth-friendly rib-based implants increase the risk of developing clinically significant proximal junctional kyphosis
23/01/2023
Use of low ROC (more curved) posterior distraction implants is associated with a significantly greater increase in thoracic kyphosis which likely led to a higher risk of developing clinically significant PJK in participants with EOS.
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Risk factors associated with prevalent vertebral fractures in Duchenne muscular dystrophy
07/11/2022
Readily measurable clinical variables were associated with prevalent VF in males with glucocorticoid-treated DMD. These variables may be useful to identify candidates for primary osteoporosis prevention after glucocorticoid initiation.
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The effect of vertebral body tethering on spine range of motion in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: a pilot study
17/09/2022
These results suggest some preservation of spine motion in the transverse plane following VBT. This study provides initial evidence of some potential preservation of spine ROM following VBT; however, further prospective investigation of VBT is needed to assess and confirm these hypotheses.
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Reliability of radiographic assessment of growth modulation from anterior vertebral body tethering surgery in pediatric scoliosis
23/08/2022
Based on 8 individual observers, interobserver agreement ranged from good (pre-operative vertebral body heights) to moderate (4-year follow-up vertebral body heights) to poor (all wedging angles). To improve the reliability of the measurement of wedging angles, we recommend averaging the measurements of at least two observers.