This continuing medical education session will address caring for the patient with traumatic spine injuries.  These spine injuries can occur from motor vehicle accidents, work-related injuries, falls and even sports.  At this session, Dr. Paul Kraemer will discuss the caring for the patient with acute traumatic spine injuries and will also discuss when spine surgery is an option.  The latest research and updates for the treatment of spinal cord injuries will also be reviewed.

Dr. Paul Kraemer is an orthopaedic spine surgeon, who has recently joined Indiana Spine Group. 

For individuals diagnosed with a contained herniated disc or protruding disc, which are suffering from leg or lower back pain - one newer treatment option for pain relief is nucleoplasty. 

Nucleoplasty provides a minimally invasive spine treatment alternative.  With this minimally invasive spine procedure, radio waves which produce energy are used to dissolve (ablate) the unwanted disc tissue, and this relieves the pressure causing the lower back pain or leg pain.

This procedure is performed by a physician who is a minimally invasive spine specialist.  During this spine procedure, which takes less than an hour, the patient is awake and the physician will use a local anesthetic.  Guided by fluoroscopy (internal X-ray), the physician will insert a catheter-like device to the affected spinal disc. This catheter will deliver small amounts of radio wave energy to the damaged disc that will create a molecular reaction that will result in the spongy tissue in the damaged disc to dissolve.  This will reduce the pressure in the damaged disc, and thereby allow the herniation in the disc to retract.  The goal of nuceloplasty, is to reduce the pressure on the affected nerve and therefore eliminate back pain.

Approximately five years ago (May 2002), I performed the first artificial cervical disc replacement in the U.S.  (Read the press release about this procedure.)  As a physician who is involved in the research and development of minimally invasive spine surgery techniques – I was excited to be involved in this research study.  It is my opinion that the cervical artificial disc will be the new gold standard to the traditional fusion procedure. 

Here is more information about the cervical artificial disc.  When a patient suffers with a herniated cervical disc – also called a ruptured disc or slipped disc – traditionally the standard surgical treatment is a spinal fusion surgery.  With a fusion – the damaged cervical disc is removed and then a bone is grafted into place to stabilize the spinal area affected.  The bone used is synthetic or grafted from a second surgical site.  The patient then undergoes a long recovery period – a cervical collar is worn to immobilize the neck for a period of time, and the patient may have two surgical sites undergoing recovery (depending on the source of the bone graft).  Then following the recovery period – the patient may have some stiffness (decreased) mobility in the neck region. 

Now with a cervical artificial disc, the damaged cervical disc is removed – and the cervical artificial disc is inserted into this area.  The cervical artificial disc is designed to mimic the action of the original disc. Following this procedure, the patient returns to normal activities in a few weeks.  The advantages of this procedure are:  shorter recovery time, no cervical collar, one surgical site which reduces the chance for post-op infections/complication, and a shorter hospital.  Additionally, the patient’s mobility is not decreased – and neck movement is normal and not limited.  Needless to say, patients that are active and want to remain active love this alternative! 

To learn more about his procedure visit our web site or  call Indiana Spine Group at 317.228.7000.

Prior to talking more about cervical artificial discs – here is an overview of cervical herniated discs sometimes called bulging discs.  The cervical artificial disc is a surgical treatment option.  The cervical artificial spine surgery procedure provides a minimally invasive spine surgery treatment for herniated discs. 

Here is the definition - a herniated disc is where the soft center of the spinal disc “bulges” or breaks through the weakened part of the disc. This usually occurs in the lower part (lumbar area) of the spine, but can occur anywhere; i.e. in the cervical (neck) or thoracic (chest) areas of the spine.   This is also called a slipped, prolapsed or ruptured disc. 

People with back problems – may have more than just back pain.  Sometimes, if you suffer from leg pain – this can be related to your spine.  If a person has ongoing leg pain that is persistent and increases as you lift your knee to your chest or bend over – it could be related to your back.  One back problem – that causes a shooting pain down your leg referred to as “sciatica” is lumbar radiculopathy.