Spine
Yongjung (Jay) Kim, MD
Christopher B. Michelsen, MD
Mark Weidenbaum, MD
The Orthopedic Spine Service consists of a team of specialists dedicated to helping patients with conditions affecting the cervical (neck), thoracic (upper back), or lumbar (lower back) spine.
The spine is the main supporting structure for the human body and it protects the spinal cord, the neural conduit between the brain and the body's motor and sensory system. The spine must not only protect the nerves and spinal cord; it must also still allow for movement and flexibility. Many conditions such as muscle strains, disk problems, arthritis, abnormal curvatures such as scoliosis and kyphosis, congenital defects, instabilities, tumors, and trauma can affect the spine. Most of these conditions never require surgery. But when surgery become necessary, treatment must be tailored to the needs of each individual child or adult.
The Orthopedic Spine Service uses innovative techniques and treatment modalities that reduce operative time, improve clinical outcomes, and accelerate mobility. For example, in the past, when anterior and posterior approaches were both necessary, they were traditionally performed on two different days or consecutively on the same operative day. When possible, these can now be preformed using a simultaneous anterior/posterior approach, in which the spine is operated on from both directions at the same time. As a result, patients undergo shorter operations, because two surgical teams complete both operations at the same time.
