In a prior blog, the recent FDA-approval of the Bryan Cervical Disc ™ was announced. One of the advantages of this device and cervical arthroplasty, as a spine surgical treatment for degenerative disc disease, is that patients can return to work and their normal activities in a relatively short period of time. Generally, this time period is quicker when compared to a spinal fusion – which is the current standard spine surgical treatment to this newer procedure and technology. At this time, spinal fusion is the standard surgical treatment.

A study recently published in Neurosurgery, concluded that patients that underwent cervical arthroplasty returned to work on average about three months sooner than those patients that underwent a spinal fusion and cervical discectomy. The patients who received the cervical artificial disc returned to work in a median time frame of 101 days following their spine surgery (cervical arthroplasty) as compared to 222 days in the group that underwent the spinal fusion and cervical discectomy.  

Another session at the continuing medical education symposium “Back Talk” will highlight case studies.  With these case studies, conference attendees will review specific patient complaints of neck and back pain, and the recommended diagnostic studies.  Spinal imaging studies will be reviewed and radiological findings will be highlighted.  Additionally, the facilitators of this educational session will review different applicable minimally invasive treatment options based on the clinical and radiological results.  A few minimally invasive treatment options that will be discussed will include radiofrequency, IDET and percutaneous discectomy. 

It has been said – that work can cause headaches – but it can also be said that work can be a pain in the back! Well maybe the work does not create back pain, but how you sit at your desk can result in back pain.

This spine wellness blog entry will provide a few tips for avoiding back pain, while sitting at your desk.

• Have your chair at the proper height; your feet should be flat on the floor and your knees should bend at a 90-degree angle.
• When you are talking on the phone, avoid bending your neck to cradle the phone against your shoulder.
• Avoid leaning over your desk for a long period of time.  If possible, try taking breaks and stretching.
• Sit with your back supported.

Indiana Spine Group has three minimally invasive spine specialists treating patients with back and neck pain.  The goal of minimally invasive spine specialists is to diagnose the cause of a patient’s neck / back pain – and to treat this cause. Many times medical management and/or minimally invasive spine treatments can effectively eliminate a patient’s neck or back pain.

To learn more about our minimally invasive spine specialists, Kevin Macadaeg, MD, Jonathan Gentile, MD, and John Arbuckle, MD, visit their biographies. Additionally, their videos provide insight into their treatment philosophy and expertise. 

For more information about Indiana Spine Group or to schedule an appointment call:  (317) 228-7000 or toll-free (866) 947-7463.

The second day of Back Talk, the continuing medical education symposium for physicians and health care practitioners, will provide a series of concurrent sessions where attendees will choose which topics they would like to attend. There are four series of sessions that will address specific diagnoses, overall spine wellness, discuss minimally invasive spine treatments including spinal cord stimulator and verteboplasty as well spine surgery treatments. Additionally, case studies will be reviewed. For a complete continuing medical education agenda, click here. 

It has been said – that work can sometimes cause headaches – but it can also be said that work can be a pain in the back! Well maybe the work does not create back pain, but how you sit at your desk can result in back pain.

This spine wellness blog entry will provide a few tips for avoiding back pain, while sitting at your desk.

• Have your chair at the proper height; your feet should be flat on the floor and your knees should bend at a 90-degree angle.
• When you are talking on the phone, avoid bending your neck to cradle the phone against your shoulder.
• Avoid leaning over your desk for a long period of time.  If possible, try taking breaks and stretching.
• Sit with your back supported.

One treatment for ongoing back pain following spine surgery - sometimes referred to as failed back syndrome, is a spinal cord stimulator. A spinal cord stimulator uses electrical impulses to help relieve chronic back pain. Previous blog entries have highlighted this procedure. 

Dr. Jonathan Gentile, MD, a minimally invasive spine specialist with Indiana Spine Group, implants spinal cord stimulators - when indicated -  in patients suffering from failed back syndrome. To watch him discuss this procedure, click here. 

As summer approaches – and people are planning their road trips.  This blog entry provides a few spine wellness tips for travelers.  Driving can literally be a pain in the back.  Research has shown that driving can result in back pain.  This is caused by the fixed position combined with motion, vibrations and the swaying of your automobile.

As travel costs increase, most people find that if they are flying, they are flying coach. The good news is the savings – the bad news is the space. Sometimes – you may feel like a “sardine” in a can. Depending on the duration of your flight, these close quarters can result in back or neck pain. 

This spine wellness tip provides a few hints to avoid neck and back pain.

·         To help avoid back pain – support your lower back. To do this, roll two airline blankets or take two pillows, and place them on each side of your lower back. This will provide lower back support. 

·         To help avoid neck pain – use an inflatable pillow – place this around your neck if you are sleeping. 

Another spine wellness tip while flying is to try to keep the space under the seat in front of you clear. This will allow you to stretch your legs. If this is not possible, then place your
item(s) in the middle, and place your legs on each side. 

One of the videos on the updated educational resource section of Indiana Spine Group’s web site is about back pain. In this video, minimally interventional spine  specialist John Arbuckle, MD, defines spinal/back pain, and he provides an overview of diagnosing back pain and treatment. To view this spine wellness education video on spinal / back pain, click here. 

In September, Indiana Spine Group is sponsoring a continuing medical education symposium entitled “BACK TALK: Comprehensive Concepts in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Spinal Disorders”. At this conference I will be providing a few talks – one is on spine surgery; specific to the cervical spine surgery patient. The other talk is on the future of spine care. 

During the cervical spine surgery talk, I will be discussing the cervical pathology and diagnoses indicative for spine surgery – both degenerative and traumatic. Additionally, I will discuss common cervical spine surgical procedures, their indications and expected outcomes.

In the talk about the future of spine care – I will review the latest FDA-approved technologies and treatments. Additionally, I will discuss interventional and surgical innovations that are either in development or clinical trials. Additionally, this presentation will provide highlights about the cervical artificial discs; i.e. the Prestige™ artificial disc and the Bryan™ artificial disc. 

We are excited to highlight another silver sponsor of Back Talk, Indiana Spine Group’s continuing medical education program – Globus Medical.

Globus Medical is dedicated to providing the most advanced, simple to use, highest quality spinal products. Their spinal products include the areas of fusion, minimally invasive surgery (MIS), biomaterials and motion preservation. Since its founding in 2003, Globus Medical continues to develop new technologies to improve patient outcomes. 

The ultimate goal of Globus is to utilize superior engineering and technology to achieve pain free active lives for all patients.

Recently we have updated the educational resources on our Indiana Spine Group web site.  With this update, we included a few educational videos.  These videos include myself and other physicians with Indiana Spine Group discussing different topics; i.e. artificial cervical disc, spinal pain, spinal stenosis, etc.

Another sponsor for Back Talk, Indiana Spine Group's continuing medical education symposium is Stryker Interventional Spine.  Stryker Interventional Spine specializes in minimally invasive spine treatment options for the relief of chronic back pain. Stryker Interventional Spine provides physicians with a wide range of minimally invasive spine surgical tools. This includes spine surgical tools for   radiofrequency, vertebroplasty, disc decompression and discography. 

Vertebroplasty is a minimally invasive spine procedure that is used to treat vertebral compression fractures (VCFs) as a result of osteoporosis, trauma or tumors.  

Discography is a procedure that is used to diagnose the the cause of back pain; and to identify which spinal disc(s) are involved.

Radiofrequency is a type of injection which utilizes an injection which involves heat – and the goal of this interventional pain management procedure is to interrupt pain signals therefore eliminating back pain. 

Disc Decompression is a spine surgical procedure that is performed to alleviate pinched nerves. The two common types of decompression spine surgical procedures are microdiscectomy and laminectomy.  

To learn more about Stryker Interventional Spine, and their minimally invasive spine products visit their web site.  

Spine surgeons Drs. Rick Sasso and Kenneth Renkens, will be presenting a two part talk on The Surgical Patient at Back Talk. Back Talk is the continuing medical education symposium for primary care physicians and health care practitioners.  These presentations will discuss the cervical spine surgical patient and the lumbar spine surgical patient. The goal of these continuing medical presentations is to help the practitioner understand who the ideal spine surgery candidate is, and the indications and expectations for spine surgery. Additionally, different surgical options will be discussed. 

Dr. Rick Sasso, will discuss the cervical spine surgery patient. In this presentation he will review the cervical pathology and diagnoses for indicative of surgery – both degenerative and traumatic. Additionally, Dr. Sasso will discuss common cervical spine surgical procedures, their indications and expected outcomes.

For the lumbar spine presentation, Dr. Kenneth Renkens will discuss the indications and diagnoses when lumbar surgery is a treatment option. Dr. Renkens will also discuss common lumbar surgical procedures – their specific indications and the effectiveness of these lumbar spine surgery procedures. 

Dr. John Arbuckle, will give a presentation entitled "Minimially Invasive Spine Treatments".  This presentation at our continuing medical education program for primary care physicians and practitioners, Back Talk, will address minimally invasive spine treatments. When medical and non-operative treatment options are ineffective or not a treatment option for back pain and spinal problems – interventional therapies may be a treatment option.

During this presentation Dr. John Arbuckle, a minimally invasive spine specialist with Indiana Spine Group, will highlight the different minimally invasive treatment options. He will discuss the indications and efficacy of these treatment options; including IDET, epidural steroid injections and rhizotomy. 

Many times – conservative, non-operative therapies are an effective treatment for patients with back pain and spinal problems. This presentation at Back Talk, Indiana Spine Groups continuing medical education symposium for primary care physicians and health care practitioners, will highlight some of the conservative treatments including physical therapy, activity modification and medications. Additionally, the indications and expected outcomes of these non-operative treatments will be discussed. 

This talk will be given by Jonathan Gentile, MD, and Jeff Hebert, DC, PhD(c), DACBSP. Dr. Gentile, is a minimally invasive spine specialist with Indiana Spine Group. Dr. Hebert is a chiropractic physician and is an assistant professor at the University of Utah; Department of Neurosurgery. 

In February, Dr. Paul Kraemer attended and presented at the annual continuing medical education meeting of the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons in Las Vegas.  Dr. Kraemer gave a presentation entitled, ““Infectious Pin Complications in Halo’s Utilizing Ceramic vs Metallic Pins”.   

Dr. Kraemer a spine surgeon with Indiana Spine Group specializes in all aspects of spine surgery, including cervical, thoracic and lumbar. He also specializes in spine trauma and other emergencies, including infections, tumors and injuries