Jeffrey R Carlson, MD, MBA, CPE, FAAOS In my last article, I discussed how changes in surgical technique, instrumentation, biologics and anesthesia had helped to pave the way for moving spinal fusion surgery from a strictly inpatient setting to an outpatient setting. In this installment, I will review how further advances in pain management have… Read more »
Jeffrey R. Carlson, MD, MBA, CPE, FAAOS In the old days (a mere 10-15 years ago), when I performed a multi-level spine fusion on a patient, it was considered a really big deal by the insurance company and required an inpatient hospital stay of at least two or three days, maybe more. Now, I perform… Read more »
Mark W. McFarland, DO A big part of my job as a Spine Surgeon is discerning how much surgery is needed to achieve the goal of pain relief and decompression of spinal nerves from structural spinal issues. The nerve compression could be caused by osteophytes (bone spurs) from arthritic changes in the spine, a bulging… Read more »
Jeffrey R. Carlson, MD CPE In the last two articles, I’ve reviewed the reasons why bone fracture can go untreated and what happens to the human body as a result. In this last segment, I will address what can be done for those fractures that are finally given proper medical attention. Non-union – this means… Read more »
Boyd W. Haynes III, MD Everyone knows that a tourniquet reduces or completely restricts blood flow. We all learned that watching TV westerns, like Gunsmoke. Expendable guest stars regularly got bitten by the token diamondback rattler while crossing through Death Valley. They quickly tied on a tourniquet to slow the venom’s progress through the bloodstream… Read more »
Jeffrey R. Carlson, MD, CPE (Originally published in Hampton Roads Physicians’ Magazine) When muscles don’t get enough blood flow due to obstructed arteries, cramping pain can result simply from walking or using one’s arms. Vascular claudication (VC) is a condition typically caused by peripheral artery disease and is a debilitating problem that worsens over time…. Read more »
John D. Burrow, DO One of the more complicated types of bone fracture to treat is the comminuted fracture. This is where the bone breaks into three or more pieces, typically caused by a high-force accident or trauma, such as a fall from a height, a motor vehicle crash, or a contact sports injury. Often… Read more »
Jeffrey R. Carlson, MD, CPE Most of you are familiar enough with human anatomy to know that the spine has bones called vertebrae that are stacked upon one another, sandwiched between vertebral discs that help us walk upright, bear our weight, bend, and even let us perform gymnastics if necessary. However, many people don’t know… Read more »
Mark W. McFarland, MD One of the first things you learn in medical school is that human bones can withstand lots of punishment, but they also can break in a lot of different ways. Spinal bones (vertebrae) tend to break in specific ways, and some can be more serious than others. In this article, I’m… Read more »
Robert J. Snyder, MD An oblique fracture is one that breaks diagonally across the width of the bone and along the longitudinal axis of the bone. Because of the shape of the bone fracture, the edges of the bone are typically quite sharp and knife-like and can cause lacerations to the skin over the fracture,… Read more »