Rick Sasso, MD

Congratulations to Rick Sasso, MD, a spine surgeon with Indiana Spine Group, on his recent patent assignment. This patent, filed in 2007 was approved in September 2011. US Patent number 8.016,831 is for” instruments and techniques for guiding instruments to a spinal column.”

This patent is related to spine surgery instrumentation and  techniques for anterior cervical discectomy and spinal fusion, as well as safely and accurately placing cervical artificial discs replacements into the intradiscal space. For more detail about this patent, visit this link.

Congratulations to Rick Sasso, M.D., Indiana Spine Group spine surgeon, for his recent publication of a chapter in Rothman Simeone The Spine – 6^th edition. Dr. Sasso co-authored a book chapter on “Cervical Disc Replacement”.

The Spine provides spine surgeons a continuing medical education resource to help them achieve optimal outcomes in the clinical practice of spine surgery for adults and pediatric patients. This resource includes chapters contributed by international experts on spine surgery, and highlights state-of the-art treatments and surgical techniques.

For more information about this resource, visit .

Blog Entry: Annual AAOS Meeting

In February, Drs. Rick Sasso, and Paul Kraemer presented at the annual continuing medical education meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in San Diego.

Drs. Kraemer and Sasso co-presented a talked entitled, “Differentiating Cervical Spine and Shoulder Pathology: Common Disorders and Key Points of Evaluation and Treatment.” Additionally, Dr. Sasso co-presented other talks, of which a couple were: "The Degenerative Cervical Spine: What You Need to Know," and "Cervical Disc Replacement: Five Year Follow-up from the U.S. Prospective Randomized Bryan Trial." For a complete, continuing medical education program, visit this link.  

Congratulations to Dr. Rick Sasso for his recent publication! (Dr. Sasso is a spine surgeon with Indiana Spine Group). Dr. Sasso recently co-authored an article published in the recent issue of the SAS Journal. This journal is a publication of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery and the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery.

This article entitled, Lumbar Extraforaminal Decompression: A Technical Note and Retrospective Study Looking at Potential Complications as an Outpatient Procedure, published the results of a recent spinal study. This spine study retroactively evaluated the medical records of 100 patients from the same spine surgeon, who underwent spine surgery for lumbar disc herniation or stenosis. The spine surgical procedure was a type of decompression. This study concluded that extraforaminal lumbar decompression can safely be done as an outpatient spine surgical procedure.

Congratulations to Rick Sasso, MD, a spine surgeon with Indiana Spine Group. He recently had a chapter published in a new spine surgery textbook, and an article published in a medical journal.

Dr. Sasso co-authored a chapter on sacral fractures published in Spine and Spinal Cord Trauma: Evidence Based Management. This book is now available for purchase.

In addition to patient care and research, physicians with Indiana Spine Group lecture nationally and internationally as well as publish.  A few recent publications include the following:

• A book chapter co-authored by Kevin Macadaeg, MD, and Rick Sasso, MD, et.al. This chapter was on neck pain and was entitled, “Treatment of Axial Neck Pain”. This was published in Arthritis and Arthroplasty: The Spine, edited by Shen and Shaffrey.  To purchase this book, visit this link.  

• A chapter co-written by spine surgeons Rick Sasso, MD, and Paul Kraemer, MD, entitled “Rigid versus Dynamic Cervical Plates: Indications and Efficacy”. This chapter was published in a book entitled Controversies in Spine Surgery: Best Evidence Recommendations, edited by Vaccaro and Eck. This book is available online.

Congratulations to Rick Sasso, MD, a spine surgeon with Indiana Spine Group, who was recently published in a new book. Dr. Sasso co-authored a chapter in the new publication Cervical Spine Trauma (2010, Rothman Institute, Philadelphis, PA). This chapter is entitled Cervicothoracic Junction Instrumentation.

Congratulations to Rick Sasso, MD, who recently co-authored a book
on spinal arthroplasty! This book entitled, Spinal Arthroplasty: The Preservation of Motion, is an ideal medical education resource for orthopaedic surgeons, spine surgeons, residents/fellows and health science libraries.

The book provides state-of-the-art information on everything related to spinal arthroplasty; including relevant spinal surgical anatomy, biomechanics, clinical indications, spinal imaging, and a complete overview of artificial disc implants - both cervical and lumbar. The publisher describes this book as “Lavishly illustrated with high-quality surgical and anatomical art and images, this landmark text brings this exciting and innovative technology to the forefront of spinal surgery with authority and style!"
 
This book is now available on Amazon and from the publisher. Also, the publisher link provides a complete Table of Contents. 

• Ambulatory surgery center
• Dedicated patient care and visitor areas with a cafe
• Imaging suite with MRI and CT
• Osteoporosis treatment center with DEXA scanning
• Physical therapy suite
• Medical academic center

Congratulations to Rick Sasso, MD, a spine surgeon with Indiana Spine Group, who was just awarded his eighth patent!  This is patent number 7,727,266 for a method and apparatus for retaining screws in a plate.  
 

This patent is for an anterior cervical plate, now called Venture.  This plate is used in spine surgery for patients suffering from a herniated disc or stenosis (disc degeneration), or after trauma, tumors or other conditions causing neck instability.  The plate is used to stabilize the cervical spine after removing the disc. 

Below is an abstract of this patent:

A retention system for maintaining a screw to a vertebral plate. One or more screws extend through apertures within the vertebral plate. A cavity is positioned adjacent to and overlaps into the aperture. A ring is positioned within the cavity and held in position by a cap. The cap attaches to the plate to prevent removal of the ring. The ring is deflectable between a first shape to allow the screw to be inserted and removed from the aperture, and a second shape to prevent screw back-out from the aperture. A method of using the system is also included and comprises positioning the ring within a cavity in the plate, maintaining the position of the ring to the plate by attaching a cap, inserting a screw through the aperture and attaching the plate to a vertebral member, and positioning the ring over the screw head and preventing the screw from backing-out.

Recently Rick Sasso, M.D., a spine surgeon with Indiana Spine Group,
co-authored a book chapter for a medical textbook. This chapter was titled “Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion.”  Anterior lumbar interbody fusion, usually referred to as ALIF, is a spine surgical procedure commonly used to treat discogenic low back pain - when non-operative measures are ineffective.

In this chapter, the historical background of anterior lumbar interbody fusion was reviewed. This spine surgery procedure was used as early as 1932 for the treatment of spondylolisthesis. Additionally, this chapter reviewed the biomechanics, patient selection, clinical studies, and imaging. To read this chapter, click here

At Indiana Spine Group’s Back Talk continuing medical education symposium, as highlighted in a previous blog entry , there are two educational tracks that will be available for conference attendees on day one.  In addition to the general track discussed in the prior blog, there is a more in-depth track entitled, More Specifics | Spinal Diagnostics and Treatment. 

In this education track there will be a few sessions focusing on the diagnosis of spinal disorders and abnormalities.  One session titled Spinal Imaging | Technology and Diagnosis, will be presented by Stephen Pomeranz, MD. Dr. Pomerance is a radiologist. In this session, Dr. Pomeranz will provide an in-depth look at spinal imaging technologies and highlight the latest developments in spinal imaging technology and their applications in spinal diagnostics.  Additionally, using case studies, he will review radiological finds and diagnostic indicators. 

The second session of this educational track will focus on The Electrodiagnostic Evaluation, and will be presented by physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist Dr. Shashank Dave.  During his presentation, Dr.Dave will discuss the role and application of electromyography in the diagnosis of spinal disorders and diseases.  Additionally, he will review case studies which utilize electromyography and identify specific diagnoses. 

Another session presented for the in-depth track will focus on Diagnostic and Therapeutic Injections of the Spine.  This will be presented by minimally invasive spine specialist John Arbuckle, MD.  During this session Dr. Arbuckle will review and differentiate between the different type of therapeutic injections and will review the treatment efficacy of injections, the clinical protocols, indications and expected outcomes. 

The last session of this continuing education track will highlight spine surgery, and is entitled Surgical Perspectives | Fusion vs Arthroplasty, presented by spine surgeon Rick Sasso, MD.  During this session, Dr. Sasso will provide a detailed analysis of spinal fusion and arthroplasty and he will discuss motion preservation modalities for the treatment of generative disc disease.  He will highlight lumbar and cervical artificial discs as well as review research studies and discuss patient selection, indications and expected outcomes. 

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. 

In May 2009, the Bryan Cervical Artificial Disc received FDA approval.  This approval was previously written about in Dr. Sasso’s blog.  The cervical artificial disc provides an alternative spine surgical treatment for cervical degenerative disc disease.

Dr. Rick Sasso, a spine surgeon with Indiana Spine Group, has been a principal investigator in the studies with this spine surgical device – the Bryan Cervical Disc.  A few of abstracts of his published research studies regarding the cervical disc are available on the U.S. National Library of Medicine / National Institutes of Health web site. 

These include:

• Cervical kinematics after spinal fusion and bryan disc arthroplasty 
  
• Motion analysis of bryan cervical disc arthroplasty versus anterior discectomy and spinal fusion: results from a prospective, randomized, multicenter, clinical trial 
  

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). 
 

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.

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.) 

The St.Vincent Orthopedic Center and St.Vincent Spine Center recently earned the Joint Commission’s Disease-Specific Care Certification for joint replacement and spine surgery, respectively. The Joint Commission is the nation’s premier healthcare accreditation entity.  Read the complete story in the Indianapolis Star. 

Dr. Rick Sasso, co-medical director of the St.Vincent Spine Center spine surgeon with Indiana Spine Group was quoted in this article.