Blog

Interventional Spine Tech: Revolutionary or All Hype? June 16-18, 2022 Recently, I participated on a panel at the 19th Annual Spine, Orthopedic & Pain Management - Driven ASC Conference in Chicago on June 16. The panel was, “Interventional Spine Tech;...

How does the size of the disc protrusion on the MRI correlate to the amount of disc material removed ? To be honest, I’m not sure if there is a way to calculate a figure in terms of weight or volume, but there is one thing I can tell you from a subjective perspective....

In my experience, the most aggravating facet pain to deal with is thoracic facet pain that doesn’t respond to manipulative, conservative or injection therapy. This pain usually originates from the upper level facets from C7-T1 to T5-6.  The pain that radiates from the...

What three items does the hospital or ASC administrator want to know ? When you approach the administrator or director of an ASC or hospital to support your endoscopic spine practice, they will want to know three things. It’s best to know these three things prior to...

Is there a finding on the physical exam that might suggest the need for a discogram ? Yes, there is, particularly with the “right” history.  Typically, I don’t think that the physical exam is very helpful when evaluating low back pain. The exam for low back pain will...

As a car enthusiast of older cars, I can tell you that a small (and inexpensive) part can cause big problems. In the motor vehicle example, if there is not adequate fuel or electricity reaching the engine, it won’t start and whatever plans you had will be canceled....

Cervical Facet Syndrome - The Lateral Corner  Cervical facet syndrome is a painful and “invisible” condition that can significantly restrict range of motion.  The problem with traditional cervical rhizotomy is that it really doesn’t address the problems causing the...

In the Beginning...In the beginning I thought that the most difficult thing about implementing endoscopic spine surgery was going to be learning how to use the instruments after relearning the anatomy. I recall the transition from doing open knee surgery...

If not you...then who?If not me, then who ? If not now, then when ? I’m not sure where I first heard these two questions but I always can hear them in the background when I’m considering a change or feeling the need to “step up to the plate” for a new  topic or issue....

Why you should insist on oblique views of the Cervical Spine MRILook at why you should insist on oblique views of the Cervical Spine MRI You should insist on oblique views of cervical MRI’s because they really tell the story. Typical axial slices are oblique to the...