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. 

One procedure performed by the minimally invasive spine specialists at Indiana Spine Group is vertebroplasty.  Vertebroplasty is one of the treatment options for vertebral compression fractures. 

During vertebrplasty,a very specialized orthopaedic cement is injected into the vertebral body.  The advantages of vertebroplasty include:  immediate fix of the fractured area of the spine, that area of the bone is stronger as a result of the cement and the patient has pain relief in 1-2 days. 

Often time’s patients that have idiopathic scoliosis may also have a visible rib deformity that may be present following corrective spine surgery.  The traditional spine surgical procedure to correct this has been open thoracoplasty.  A newer, minimally invasive procedure used is video- assisted thoracoplasty.  This procedure is less invasive than the traditional spine surgical procedure.

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.

When an individual continues to have chronic back pain and/or leg pain following back surgery; it is referred to as failed back syndrome. A few treatments for this can include physical therapy or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAID). If medical management is ineffective another treatment option available is a spinal cord stimulator.

A spinal cord stimulator is an implantable device that uses an electrical current to provide a tingling sensation that helps to mask the chronic pain. Dr. Gentile describes it as “a kind of pacemaker for pain.”

In this video, Dr. Gentile describes the procedure for implanting a spinal cord stimulator. Dr. Jonathan Gentile is a minimally invasive spine specialist with Indiana Spine Group.

This procedure is available at Indiana Spine Group. For more information, call 317.228.7000 or toll-free 866.947.7463.

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. 

Previously, I blogged about the research results of a spine patient study – which evaluated the clinical outcomes of patients who received a Bryan Cervical Disc compared to those that had a standard spinal fusion at 24-months post-operatively. I recently completed a new study, which evaluated these patients 48-months post-operatively. This study will soon be published.

In this study – the functional outcomes of patients at 48-months (4 years) following their spine surgery was evaluated. This study had two groups of patients – one group received a spinal fusion (Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion - ACDF) and the other group received the Bryan cervical artificial disc prosthesis. This spine surgery was for the treatment of radiculopathy and myelopathy, after minimally invasive spine procedures were determined ineffective.

There were 47 patients enrolled in this spine study. Of this group, 21 were enrolled in the Bryan cervical disc arm of the study and their mean age was 40.  In the group that received a spinal fusion (control group), there were 26 participants and their mean age was 43.

This study concluded that patients that received the Bryan Artificial Cervical Disc at 48-months, when compared to the control group:

•     Had less neck and arm pain,
•     Greater mobility,
•     Less adjacent segment degeneration, and
•     Lower secondary operation rate.

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.) 

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

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.