Blog

Why use methylene blue ?Why use methylene blue ? How can methylene blue assist with endoscopic spine surgery ? Endoscopic spine surgery is, in many ways,  a self-taught skill set. Especially as one advances from beginner to expert. Of course this steep learning curve...

Failed Back Surgery...Why?What causes a failed back surgery? One answer could be an inadequate preoperative workup, before the fusion, to help identify the painful disc.  This is a situation that I’m seeing more often, as fusions are being performed more routinely for...

Annular Tears and Fragments - Part 1What causes an annular tear?   Here is my theory. When I first started doing discography and CT scans to visualize annular tears in a painful lumbar spine, I thought it was wear and tear that caused all the fissures. I initially...

Is the MRI enough to evaluate chronic lower back pain?In my opinion, the MRI of the lumbar spine is not the ideal diagnostic tool to evaluate chronic deep midline low back pain.  There are a few reasons that the MRI is not optimal. If the MRI is interpreted as...

What’s the cost of not Training?Training is really the foundation of  success and achievement. The better the training, the more you can expect to accomplish in a safe and successful way. You will begin an endeavour at a higher level of proficiency and not have to...

Where do my Patients come from? Part 2I am urging you to take a careful look at your practice and explore the contribution your previous patients are making to your current practice. This is a group of people that you need to recognize and nurture. There are several...

Where do your Patients come from?Have you ever taken a look back through the past year of your practice to see where your patients are coming from? This exercise is critical to the health of your practice and should influence your marketing strategies, because the...

Why stay out of the Spinal Canal? I am often asked... Why stay out of the spinal canal ?  I’ve had a 100% endoscopic spine practice for over 23 years and have performed over ten thousand procedures on all areas of the spine from C2-3 to the coccyx. In the 10 years...

How did I get started? Conclusion“Can Endoscopic Spine Surgery be considered a specialty ?” When I began to do endoscopic spine surgery in the late 90’s, I treated painful conditions that could be seen on the MRI such as disc herniations and stenosis. The big...

How did I get started? Part Three  Your perspective on a problem changes as your tools change. -  Tony Mork I didn’t think that there was enough preop testing to really know where the pain was coming from.   Three things changed when I operated on the back and...