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Aim: Publication rate of congress abstracts has gained attention in the recent literature. Our aim was to assess publication rate and the reasons behind publication of abstracts presented at North American Spine Society (NASS) 2009-2012 annual scientific meetings. Methods: We evaluated the abstracts presented at the NASS 2009-2012 annual scientific meetings. We searched abstract titles and author names through the PubMed/MEDLINE and Google Scholar. Author specialty, origin of the abstract, journal name, time to publication (years) and content change were looked for. Results: The publication rate of the abstracts presented at NASS 2009-2012 was 48%. The 2011 congress was the most successful one at reaching publication compared to other three years. Oral presentation abstracts were more likely to be published than poster abstracts, except the year 2011. Orthopedic surgery was the leading specialty in the number of presented abstracts (70%), while neurosurgery was the most successful specialty in seeing publication of the presented abstracts (58%). Conclusion: The publication rate of presented abstracts of NASS has increased compared to the previous years. Further research is needed to understand the reasons for some presented abstracts that could not have been published in scientific journals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]