Continuing Medical Education

We are excited to announce that the keynote speaker for Indiana Spine Group’s 4^th annual continuing medical education spine symposium Back Talk | Comprehensive Concepts in Spinal Disorders and Abnormalities is James McGreevy, M.D.  Dr. McGreevy is a trauma surgeon and Professor of Surgery at the University of Utah Medical Center and Chief of Surgery for the Salt Lake City VA Medical Center.  Additionally, he is a Colonel in the United States Air Force Reserve and the Commander of the 419^th Medical Squadron.  In 2005 and 2007 Dr. McGreevy served in Operation Iraq Freedom in Balad, Iraq as a flight surgeon.

His talk, entitled The Front Lines | Reflections of Iraq, will give first-hand stories about the medical care provided at the Balad Air Force Theater Hospital in Balad Iraq.  This multispecialty trauma center is the U.S. military’s largest hospital in Iraq which treats soldiers, military personnel, civilians and sometimes insurgents.  During his talk, Dr. McGreevy will discuss the operations of the Balad Air Force Theater Hospital, describe the level of trauma care available to wounded civilians and military personnel and highlight the common occupational health hazards associated with fighter type operations in a deployed environment.

 For more information about Indiana Spine Group's continuing medical education symposium Back Talk, call (317) 228-7000 or visit Indiana Spine Group's web site. 

A recent blog entry highlighted articles about the cervical artificial disc, written by Dr. Rick Sasso  - a spine surgeon with Indiana Spine Group.

In this spine wellness educational video, Dr. Sasso discusses cervical artificial disc; the indications, overview of surgical procedure and the advantages of this procedure. 

According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation one in two women and one in four men will sustain an osteoporotic fracture sometime in their lives.  One of the most common fractures as a result of osteoporosis is a spinal fracture. 

In this spine wellness educational video, Dr. Kevin Macadaeg discusses osteoporosis and vertebral compression fractures.  Dr. Macadaeg is a minimally invasive spine specialist with Indiana Spine Group. 

·         Understand the clinical algorithms to effectively diagnose and treat patients that present with back or neck pain. 

·         Discuss comprehensive evidence-based treatment options for the spine patient, from a non-operative and operative treatment prospective; including indications, applications and expected outcomes.

·         Identify common and uncommon spinal disorders; including spinal trauma, and discuss the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment options. 

·         Address conditions and prevalent diagnoses that affect patients at specific life-stages.  Additionally, discuss intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting these diagnoses, as well as prevention, diagnosis and treatment of these spinal disorders.

·         Highlight new and emerging technologies for the treatment of spinal disorders and abnormalities; including the indications and potential benefits. 

Earlier this year, Dr. Rick Sasso and I were asked to write a spine continuing education chapter on “Controversies in Cervical Spine Surgery”, specifically about a newer spine surgical technology known as dynamic plating for cervical fusions.  Traditional plates, known as static plates, have a high success rate, but in reviewing the published reports of direct comparisons between the two plates, the dynamic plates have a slightly higher percentage which fuse.  It may be even more beneficial in longer fusions.

I have switched my practice to essentially using only the dynamic plates for cervical spinal fusions.  I have been very happy with the  results.  As with all new technology, it is important to carefully monitor results and compare them against established techniques.  I'm keeping an eye on continuing trials even as I incorporate this technology into my own practice.

(This blog entry was written by Paul Kraemer, MD; a spine surgeon with Indiana Spine Group). 
 

In October, I was a faculty member at the 8^th Annual Symposium on “Innovative Techniques in Spine Surgery.” This continuing education meeting, hosted in Phoenix, addressed the innovative and emerging technologies of spinal surgery including; arthroplasty, minimally invasive procedures, motion sparring technologies and biologics.  At this meeting I gave a talk on Lumbar Artificial Disc Replacement, and presented the results of the FDA studies for the Cervical Artificial Disc.

This education program was sponsored by the Organization of Spinal Teaching and Research.  The purpose of this group is to facilitate education and discussion among spine care providers and industry and this organization includes leaders in the field of spine surgery and technology that utilize the most advanced and effective technology available for the treatment of spinal disorders.

Another condition of the lumbar spine is spondylolisthesis. Spondylolisthesis is the result of degenerative changes in the joints of the spine that cause a shifting of alignment. Generally the L4 (lumbar vertebrae) – will slip forward over the L5 (lumbar vertebrae). 

Learn more about spondylolisthesis, the symptoms and treatments with this educational video by Kenneth Renkens, M.D. Dr. Renkens is a spine surgeon with Indiana Spine Group. 

Spinal stenosis is a general term that refers to the narrowing of the spinal canal. Often this is a degenerative condition resulting from aging. More commonly found in the lumbar (lower back) spine, it also occurs in the cervical (neck) spine. 

Learn more about spinal stenosis, the diagnosis and treatment with this education video featuring Dr. Kenneth Renkens.   Dr. Renkens is a neurosurgical spine surgeon with Indiana Spine Group. Orthopaedic spine surgeons with Indiana Spine Group include Rick Sasso, M.D., Thomas Reilly, M.D., and Paul Kraemer, M.D.

Learn more about spinal / back pain with this education video. This video features Dr. John Arbuckle as he discusses back pain; including the definition, diagnosis and early treatment.  Dr. Arbuckle is a minimally invasive spine specialist with Indiana Spine Group. 

Generally when a patient’s spinal pain is longer than four to six weeks, and the pain is not relieved with the passage of time, anti-inflammatory medications or even physical therapy – a minimally invasive spine specialist will see the individual to evaluate the cause of this pain. 

Minimally invasive spine specialists with Indiana Spine Group include John Arbuckle, M.D., Jonathan Gentile, M.D., and Kevin Macadaeg, M.D. 

If you were not able to attend Indiana Spine Group’s continuing medical education conference, Back Talk | Comprehensive Concepts in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Spinal Disorders -  educational sessions are now available on-line.

Educational Sessions include:

• The Fundamentals of Spinal Diagnostics | Kevin Macadaeg, MD
• Common Spinal Disorders | Paul Kraemer, MD
• The Uncommon and Difficult | Part One: Benign | Michael Stack, MD, PhD
• The Uncommon and Difficult | Part Two: Urgent | Kenneth Renkens, MD
• The Basics | Spinal Imaging | Thomas Reilly, MD
• Non-Operative Care: An Evidence-Based Overview | Jonathan Gentile, MD, and Jeff Hebert, DC, PhD (c)
• Minimally Invasive Spine Treatments | John Arbuckle, MD
• The Surgical Patient | Part One: Cervical | Rick Sasso, MD
• The Surgical Patient | Part Two: Lumbar | Kenneth Renkens, MD

To view these continuing education sessions, click here.  Additionally, if you would like to receive continuing medical education credits for viewing theses sessions, visit the St.Vincent Distance Education Site and view from there. Registration is free.

 
(A very special thank you to St.Vincent Spine Center for making these videos possible.) 

On September 11 and 12 2009, approximately 150 health care practitioners; including physicians, chiropractic physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners joined Indiana Spine Group at Back Talk.  This continuing medical education symposium provided comprehensive information on the diagnosis and treatment of spinal disorders, injuries and abnormalities.

Additionally, the keynote speaker paralympic medal winner Cheryl Angelelli, shared her story of turning stumbling blocks into stepping stones.  Conference attendees heard her story of how she overcame life’s challenges to attain her dream.  To learn more about Cheryl, visit her web site where a documentary about her story “Untold Dreams” can be purchased.  

Another session at Back Talk, the continuing medical education symposium for physicians and health care practitioners will address the failed back. Sometimes called failed back syndrome, failed back surgery or post-laminectomy syndrome – these patients continue to have ongoing back pain following spine surgery. 

This session will be presented by minimally invasive spine specialists Jonathan Gentile, MD, and John Arbuckle, MD, and spine surgeon Paul Kraemer, MD. With Indiana Spine Group, these physicians treat patients at our offices located on the north side of Indianapolis. 

During this continuing medical education session, the tools for physicians and health care practitioners to perform a diagnostic assessment of patients with chronic back pain following spine surgery will be highlighted. This diagnostic assessment will help caregivers to understand the underlying causes of ongoing back pain, and the mechanism of failed back. Additionally, medical and interventional treatments for failed back will be discussed – their indications and expected outcomes.

The Scoliosis Research Society is an excellent resource for individuals searching for information on spine wellness and education information on scoliosis. This web site provides detailed explanations of the types of scoliosis – as well as addresses the different life stages that one may have scoliosis; i.e. infants, juveniles, adolescents and adults. 

One out of five injuries in the work place are back injuries, according the Bureau of Labor Statistics. To help address this issue – this worker’s compensation presentation at Back Talk, will provide practitioners information to help them understand the maze of worker’s compensation as they treat patients with work-related back injuries. 

The speaker for this continuing medical education concurrent session is Effie Lewin, RN, CCM, CDMS, AIC. Effie is a medical case manager with Coventry Worker’s Comp Services. During her talk, she will provide a comprehensive review of the worker’s compensation claim process, the medical and claim documentation guidelines and the role of the case manager. Additionally, she will review case studies of on-the-job injuries, including the claim process and guidelines for the documentation of medical care. 

For more information about Back Talk, call (317) 228-7000. 

As a physician it is always rewarding to work with spine surgeon fellows. I recently had the honor of being a visiting professor at the Texas Back Institute in Dallas, Texas. While at the Texas Back Institute, I presented at their grand rounds and did an invited lecture on Interoperative Spinal Navigation. After my talk, I had the opportunity to meet with the spine fellows and staff to discuss cases and the latest spine surgical treatments for spinal disorders.  I enjoyed my visit to the Lone Star state! 

At the 16^th International Meeting on Advance Spine Techniques physician continuing medical education conference in July, in addition to participating in various continuing education lectures (discussed in prior blog entry) I also presented an abstract that I co-authored. This abstract summarized a spine research study recently completed and is entitled, Blood Metal Ion Levels Following Implantation of an All-Metal Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Replacement.

The purpose of this study was to measure the level of metal ions in an individuals blood stream following the implantation of a metal device; the all-metal lumbar intervertebral disc. This study concluded, that after six months and one year following surgery, that most patients that participated in the study did not have measurable levels of metal ions (cobalt and molybdenum ions) in their blood streams following total disc arthroplasty with the lumbar intervertebral disc replacement.

Many times, when people have chronic lower back pain – they experience a greater level of depression than individuals without chronic back pain. This continuing medical education session at “Back Talk” will provide physicians and health care practitioners insight into learning to recognize and assess psychological risk factors of patients with acute and chronic back pain. 

During this session entitled "Psychological Barriers," Ricks Warren, PhD, ABPP, will identify psychological issues in patients with chronic back pain and malingering. Additionally, he will review the psychological barriers for effective treatment of acute and chronic spinal problems – and identify the warning signs and when referral to a metal health professional is indicated. 

Ricks Warren, PhD, ABPP joins the Back Talk continuing medical education  faculty from Michigan. Dr. Warren is a clinical lecturer and psychologist with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor. 

When individuals think of being healthy and wellness – they generally do not thing about spine health and wellness. This spine wellness session at Back Talk, Indiana Spine Group's continuing medical education conference, will focus on keeping a healthy spine. Presented by Adam Ebbert, PT, and Lori Petrie, RD, they will address factors that affect spinal health – both intrinsic and extrinsic. 

This session will address the assessment of patient lifestyles to determine recommended prevention and lifestyle habits that can help prevent spinal problems and improve spinal health. Additionally, health factors affecting the spine specific to various patient populations will be discussed. 

Adam Ebbert, PT, is the physical therapy coordinator with Indiana Spine Group and. Lori Petrie, RD, is a registered dietician with StVincent Hospital. 

The continuing medical education symposium sponsored by Indiana Spine Group, Back Talk, provides many continuing medical education and continuing education credits for physicians and health care practitioners. 

BACK TALK: Comprehensive Concepts in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Spinal Disorders provides continuing medical education / continuing education credits for the following:

physicians (MD and DO), chiropractic physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, radiology technologists and surgical technologists. 

To see a complete listing of accreditation for this continuing medical education symposium – review the complete list.
 

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