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 »
Mark W. McFarland, DO After the emergent phase of injury and the immediacy of treating life-threatening injuries, after the surgeries have been performed and the subsequent acceptance of a new way of life, comes the challenge – living life after a cervical dislocation fracture. In this article, I’d like to address those realities, but also… Read more »
Mark W. McFarland, DO What happens to the patient from the scene of the accident, during transport to the hospital and after they make it to the hospital trauma unit? In this article, I’ll talk about treatment for this type of cervical fracture and how we start to put the pieces back together for the… Read more »
Mark W. McFarland, DO In part one of this article series, we discussed what a cervical dislocation fracture is, how it can happen and exactly how serious of an injury it can be. In part two, I’d like to discuss the symptoms of a cervical dislocation fracture and how a tiny distance can make a… Read more »
Mark W. McFarland, DO Most people are aware of basic spine anatomy – how the bones of the spine sit atop one another, sandwiched between cushiony discs filled with watery gel that act as shock absorbers. These vertebrae, and the attached muscles and ligaments give us amazing strength and stability to lift heavy weights and… 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 »
Jeffrey R. Carlson, MD, CPE Since its beginning, spine surgery has been a very technologically advanced specialty. Surgery that involves such precision and delicacy in surgical skills and the confidence in one’s decision making to improve a patient’s neck or lower back function while working around the spinal cord and nerves has always been at… Read more »
Mark W. McFarland, DO The phrases that conjure up the worst-case trauma scenarios are “someone’s going to break their neck” or “step on a crack, break your mama’s back”. We can all recall images of TV shows of long ago, with hospital scenes of some unfortunate patient with a “broken” neck or back, lying in… Read more »
Jeffrey R. Carlson, MD The title of this article is a question that was asked recently by a patient over our webchat line that I thought would make a fantastic topic for discussion. I often hear this complaint from my patients as I am a spine surgeon and the requirements for spine surgery anesthesia are… Read more »
Mark W. McFarland, DO I’m certain that there isn’t one of us who hasn’t had neck pain at some point in their life – we’ve slept funny and woke up with a “crick” in our neck or we painted the ceiling, or we did something that made our neck hurt. Usually, with a little TLC,… Read more »