Back Talk | Spine Education

Many times, patients spend a lot of time preparing for spine surgery – but what about after spine surgery? This Back Talk continuing medical education session will focus on the spine surgery patient, post-operatively; and provide health care practitioners in-depth guidelines to care for these patients; including warning signs, red flags, pharmacological management, and spinal rehabilitation guidelines and therapy.

This session will be presented by Jodi Hettermann Blume, PA-C, and Jennifer Turner, PA-C.  Both Jodi and Jennifer are physician assistants with Indiana Spine Group. 

For more information about this continuing medical education symposium,
call (317)228-7000, or click here. 

One unique session for “Back Talk”, the continuing medical education symposium sponsored by Indiana Spine Group, will feature a hands-on component. During this session, entitled Hands-On | Surgical Case Studies, attendees will have the opportunity to get a first-hand look at spinal instrumentation, cervical artificial disc implants and other surgical devices used during spine surgery. Spine surgeons Kenneth Renkens, MD, and Thomas Reilly, MD, will lead this discussion. As they review the technology, they will discuss spine surgery case studies including diagnoses, recommended surgical interventions and expected outcomes.

For more information about Back Talk, and a complete continuing medical education conference agenda, click here.

Sign-up early for Back Talk, and save! Early bird registration discount available until July 30.

 
BACK TALK: Comprehensive Concepts in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Spinal Disorders

This continuing medical education conference, sponsored by Indiana Spine Group is the 3^rd annual spine symposium for primary care physicians and other health care practitioners. This conference will provide the latest information for the diagnosis and treatment of spinal disorders, injuries and abnormalities. 

Date:                September 11 and 12, 2009

Location:          University Place Conference Center | Indianapolis

Visit the conference web site for complete conference information – agenda, continuing medical education accreditation, and a registration form – or call our office at 317.228.7000.

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. 

This break out session, at the continuing medical education symposium “Back Talk”, will focus on spine and sports. It is estimated that 20% of all injuries that occur in sports involve the lower back or neck. During this session, Dr. Paul Kraemer a spine surgeon with Indiana Spine Group, and Nate Blume, DC, a chiropractic physician will highlight common spinal injuries that result from organized and recreational sports; i.e. football, basketball, golf. They will discuss assessment guidelines and treatment protocols for spinal injuries resulting from sports. Additionally, initial on-site assessment and treatment, as well as recommendation guidelines for ‘continuing to play’ will be discussed during this medical education session.

A second concurrent session at Back Talk, the continuing medical education symposium will focus on spinal fractures and the treatment options for spinal fractures. With the aging population, the incidence of age-specific spinal fractures is expected to increase. One study estimated that vertebral compression fractures affects 25% of post-menopausal women.

This session will be presented by Kevin Macadaeg, MD, a minimally invasive spine specialist with Indiana Spine Group. At this session, he will discuss:

• How to recognize the symptoms, assess and diagnose osteoporotic spinal fractures. 
• Discuss the indications for medical management and interventional therapies.
• Highlight vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty for the treatment of vertebral compression fractures.
• Review the indications and treatment of sacroplasty for sacral fractures. 

A few concurrent sessions at Back Talk, will address The Aging Spine. One session, entitled The Aging Spine | Osteoporosis and Spinal Arthritis Update, will be presented by Michael Stack, MD, PhD.  Dr. Stack is a board-certified rheumatologist with Diagnostic Rheumatology & Research. 

During this continuing medical education session, Dr. Stack will provide the latest information on osteoporosis and spinal arthritis. This will include:

• The latest screening, diagnostic and treatment algorithms for osteopenia and osteoporosis.
• Indications and contra-indications of medications and hormone replacement therapy to prevent and treat osteoporosis. 
• The symptoms, diagnostic triage and current treatment options for spinal arthritis. 

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. 

Brochures for Back Talk, Indiana Spine Groups continuing medical education symposium, have been mailed.  If you have not received a brochure, and would like to receive one – please call (317) 228-7000, or email your request to info@indianaspinegroup.com.  Registrations are now being taken for this medical education program. 

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.

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. 

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.  

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. 

To learn more about our continuing medical education symposium click here. The Back Talk section of our web site includes all of the education program information, including the agenda, accreditation, hotel information, sponsors and more. 

Additionally, registrations are now being accepted for Back Talk, and registration forms are online. For more information about Back Talk, call 317.228.7000 or email info@indianaspinegroup.com. 

We are excited to announce that SPG Graphics is a silver sponsor of Back Talk.  Back Talk is the physician and health care practitioner continuing medical education symposium that they are sponsoring September 11 and 12. 2009.

SPG Graphics, headquartered in Indianapolis, provides comprehensive printing and support services. SPG Graphics is part of the A Harding Poorman Group Company, which integrates six companies within one location. Their services include:

• Offset Printing
• Personalized (one-to-one marketing)
• DI (direct image) Printing  
• Online Business Solutions  
• Print On Demand 
• Mailing 
• Printing on Plastic 
• Banners 
• Vehicle Graphics 
• Patented CD Packaging  
  

Key to diagnosis is spinal imaging. With proper imaging studies, a majority of spinal diagnoses can be determined. The spinal imaging presentation, during this continuing medical education program, will provide attendees an opportunity to review imaging studies and understand the indications and applicability of the studies for effective spinal diagnosis and treatment. 

Dr. Thomas Reilly, a spine surgeon with Indiana Spine Group, will discuss the clinical indications and appropriate imaging studies. As he reviews imaging studies, Dr. Reilly will compare those to anatomical illustrations for a better understanding of underlying spinal problems and their significance. 

Another talk scheduled for Back Talk, Indiana Spine Group's continuing medical education program is entitled, Spinal Disorders | Uncommon & Difficult. Many times, these patients present with back pain and other symptoms that are similar to many spinal diagnoses, therefore these uncommon problems can be difficult to diagnose.

In one talk, Dr. Michael Stack will discuss benign spinal disorders. This will include a review of rheumatologic and endocrinologic disorders as well as the symptoms, diagnoses and treatment indications. Dr. Stack is a rheumatologist with Diagnostic Rheumatology & Research PC.

Dr. Kenneth Renkens, a neurosurgical spine surgeon with Indiana Spine Group, will discuss the urgent spinal diagnoses. During his discussion, he will identify the red flags of spinal and nonspinal conditions that can present as back pain. This includes infections and vascular disorders. Additionally, he will review the symptoms and diagnostic indications of primary and metastatic spinal cancer. 

Other topics that will be discussed during Back Talk, the continuing medical education conference sponsored by Indiana Spine Group, are common spinal disorders. 

Dr. Paul Kraemer, a spine surgeon with Indiana Spine Group, will highlight common spinal diagnoses that affect the pediatric, adolescent and adult population. Recommended screening tests will be reviewed, and Dr. Kraemer will discuss how to differentiate between patient complaints and symptoms for effective spinal diagnosis. A few common diagnoses that will be reviewed include spinal stenosis, spondylosis, spondylolisthesis and scoliosis.

During this talk, Dr. Macadeg will discuss the normal spine, and the normal degenerative cascading process of the spine. He will discuss evidence-based guidelines for diagnosing neck and back pain and review recommended spinal diagnostic testing. This review will also include identification of red flags that present as back pain. Additionally, Dr. Macadaeg will discuss the different minimally invasive diagnostic tests and their indications. This discussion will include selective nerve root injects, facet joint injections and discograms.