Quick Preface: I have DDD, Collapsed Cervical Discs, Bulges and Herniations. I’ve had MRA’s, MRI’s, Upright MRI’s, IV Drips, CT Scans, and on and on. I’ve tried therapies you have never even heard of and my research will help ANY neck pain sufferer that will take the time to read it!

In July 2008 I moved the content of HealthSynergyRx including the Popular Neck Pain / Cervical Disc information to the Wordpress Format so I can keep you all up-to-date with new information. Topics like ADR (Artificial Disc Replacement) and state of the art imaging.

By moving to this new Blog Platform I’m able to quickly and easily post many small easy to read messages in their own unique post instead of trying to cram them all onto a single page that is too long to read comfortably. Now you can Scan for what you want and go right to the Article in any Category.

Dates of the post are not as important as the information contained. I am continually writing and updating, and editing Posts. So a post on the ProDisc C may have the date it was originally posted at the top, but the important date is at the end of the article which lists that last update.

Cervical Spine / Neck Pain Category - Help You Won’t Find Anywhere Else!

Most “Run of the mill MD’s” and even many “Experienced MD’s” do NOT know about the majority of the treatments I have uncovered in 100’s of hours of yearly research or they choose to ignore or discredit the available information. Doctors are paid to cut and drug. They are not paid to explore alternative treatments, even if those treatments are the best option for their patients.

Because Doctors Don’t know “How” to fix your neck. They only refer you to Surgery or to Physical Therapy. Doctors are not taught about Nutrition in Medical School. Doctors are not taught about specific treatment options other than “Cut and Drug”. Doctors have not taken the time to do anything more than a brief reading of my films then send me on my way. In short nearly all my Doctor visits have been a complete waste of time and money. So I had two options… live with the pain forever, or start researching Alternative Medicine and try and find a solution on my own. I chose the latter.

I have read 1,000’s of articles, abstracts, research papers, and scientific studies on neck pain and the cervical spine because I have unresolved neck pain and horrible unresolved balance issues. I’d like to invite you to join me in finding solutions to pain and suffering. If you are like me; you have probably been to many specialists and have not found relief. Relief is available but you might just have to uncover the solution yourself. I hope I can help you with my research.

There are so many overlooked and underutilized treatments. And I’m not talking snake oil here, I’m talking real world tested therapies used around the World. I’m talking about technologies your Physician may not have in your local area. Treatments like MRI scans of the nerves, Thermography to isolate sources of inflammation, Upright MRI to see the discs under load, specific non-drug supplements like Serrapeptase and Wobenzyme to bring down inflammation. YES!

There is a good chance you will find one or more treatments that apply to your specific condition that are being overlooked by your local Doctor. So please take the time to sort through the articles your own pace. If you don’t have time right now, come back later. I’ve uncovered over 50 ways to treat or fix forever neck pain! And it takes a lot of time to write about them all, and a lot of time to read about them all.

If you have neck pain (cervical spine) caused by cervical spondylosis or ? NOW IS THE TIME to evaluate why before it’s too late!

Think you have tried it all? NOT! There are treatment modalities and options here in the Neck Pain - Cervical Spine Category that you probably have not even heard of! Every week I find more information about the cervical spine and potential treatments. The neck pain treatments listed here are not “static” this is an ongoing project to beat cervical spinal pain. I’ve been making this site for more than 3 years now and consider it my mission to keep posting relevant information as long as I can find it and people find it useful.

I’m not just some writer… I have Degenerative Disc Disease, Cervical Spondylosis and a Herniated Cervical Disc. As mentioned above I have read 1,000’s of articles, abstracts, opinions, research studies on cervical spine problems which cause neck pain and continue to do so. Before you let anyone do anything to your neck you MUST correct the CAUSE if possible. Discs break under mechanical pressure - that is gravity and misuse or misalignment of the spine. My disc failure was the result of poor posture at the office computer for years on end. Surgery WILL NOT stop your pain if you don’t first address the cause of the failure. A repaired disc will simply rupture again unless you STOP the forces that started the downfall in the first place. You may have to give up some of the physical activities you once enjoyed (For me it is cycling, for you maybe horseback riding, water skiing, etc.). It’s a dirty little secret of nature - herniated disc will NEVER be the same as it was before injury, thus you must take care of it!

A poor Physician will tell you it’s just AGE or WEAR AND TEAR, and while that may play a role, the real culprit is mechanical breakdown stressing the joints. This is further compounded by poor nutrition, smoking, and stress. You can sit back and do nothing and get worse, or you can take responsibility for your own health and improve. The choice is yours. Neck pain sucks! Get Better!

By Michelle Andrews

People shopping for health insurance often consider little except different plans’ premiums and deductibles. That’s a big mistake, says Nancy Davenport-Ennis, especially in the individual market, where copayments and caps on coverage are increasingly appearing in unexpected places. “We’re seeing policies with $150 daily copayments for radiation services,” says Davenport-Ennis, cofounder and CEO of the Patient Advocate Foundation, which helps people find and pay for healthcare services. “Someone with cancer may have to pay that every day for 30 days.”

Here’s what else to look for in a plan:

• Annual or daily caps on specific types of care or services, like oncology care, or radiation and rehabilitation services. A $30,000 annual cap on cancer services, for example, won’t get you far if you need surgery, and $10,000 in annual outpatient services isn’t likely to cover a course of radiation.

• Cost-sharing requirements: copayment or coinsurance amounts and coverage limits for routine office visits, specialists, drugs, and hospital admissions. The plan may charge a $25 copayment for a visit to your primary-care physician but increase that to $40 if you see a specialist.

• Generic vs. brand-name drug coverage. “There’s a clear emergence of health plans that cover only generic drugs,” says Davenport-Ennis.

• Annual out-of-pocket maximum. Make sure you could afford to pay whatever this figure is every year if you get sick, and remember that copayments generally don’t count toward the limit.

• Lifetime coverage limit. Many serious illnesses are now considered chronic conditions rather than fatal diseases. With expensive medical treatments, a lifetime coverage limit of $1 million won’t be enough for many people.

1. Do I really need this test?

“Doctors often adhere to a better-safe-than-sorry philosophy, ordering tests just to protect themselves in the event of a lawsuit,” says David Sandmire, MD, co-author of Medical Tests That Can Save Your Life.

A full 16 percent of prostate-cancer screenings, for example, are unnecessary, say Harvard researchers. Since 80 percent of PSA results are false positives, thousands of men undergo needless biopsies each year. Another overused procedure: CT scans. The radiation from these tests causes an estimated 5,695 cancer cases a year, say British researchers.

2. Where would you send your spouse or children?

Like our tax code and the judicial system, medicine is supposed to treat everyone equally, but it’s clear that some people receive better treatment than others. “General practitioners who work within a particular system routinely refer patients to specialists within that health-care system,” says Kevin Soden, MD, co-author of Special Treatment: How to Get the Same High-Quality Health Care Your Doctor Gets. “However, oftentimes the best surgeon is in a completely different facility on the other side of town, and you can bet that’s where your doctor would send his family.”

3. How many surgeries do you perform each year?

Nowhere is the saying “practice makes perfect” more applicable than in the operating room. Urologists who perform more than 40 prostatectomies a year, for example, experience 50 percent fewer complications than those who perform fewer than 40. The same goes for hospitals performing more than 200 coronary bypass surgeries a year, according to a report in the journal Circulation. Bottom line: Your health hinges on your surgeon’s experience.

4. Can I schedule my surgery for the morning?

Arrive early and you’ll get the undivided attention of an alert medical staff. A recent study of 90,000 surgeries by researchers at Duke University found that patients who had operations in the morning were four times less likely to have anesthesia complications — nausea, post-op pain, fluctuating blood pressure — than those who had them in the afternoon.

5. If I get sick, will you see me in the hospital?

In the past 10 years, the number of hospitalists, a new breed of physicians who specialize in inpatient care, has grown from a few hundred to nearly 20,000. “So if you require hospitalization, odds are your primary-care physician won’t be at your bedside,” says Evan Scott Levine, MD, author of What Your Doctor Won’t (or Can’t Tell You). “You’ll be dealing with a new doctor who doesn’t know you or your medical history.” Make sure your GP makes hospital calls.

6. Do you earn bonuses based on performance?

Before you schedule a surgery, check the hospital’s physician reward system. Insurance companies reimburse hospitals based on the type of treatment provided, not the length of your stay. As a result, “Many hospitals pay their physicians bonuses based on how quickly they move patients out the door,” says Dr. Levine. “Quality of care is sacrificed in the interest of increasing patient turnover.”

7. When did you graduate from medical school?

In an analysis of 62 studies, researchers at Harvard Medical School discovered that doctors who have been out of medical school for more than 20 years were up to 48 percent less likely to stay up-to-date on developments in their fields. They are equally likely to be unaware of current treatment guidelines, such as prescribing aspirin to treat angina (chest pain caused by decreased blood flow to the heart). If you don’t want to ask your doctor directly, check out how long it has been since he graduated at healthgrades.com.

8. What the hell does that say?

No doctor would prescribe Zoloft for high cholesterol, but that’s what you might end up with if your pharmacist can’t read Zocor in your doctor’s chicken scratch. Poor penmanship isn’t just an old stereotype; it’s responsible for up to 61 percent of medication errors and more than 1.5 million patient injuries per year, according to a recent report from the National Academies of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine. “If you can’t read a prescription, chances are your pharmacist can’t either,” says Dr. Soden. “Get your doctor to print out the name of the medication.”

9. Will you remove that wedding ring?

When scientists at Rush University Medical Center, in Chicago, analyzed the hands of 66 nurses, they found that those with wedding rings had 10 times more bacteria than those without. “Bacterial infections are the leading cause of death in American hospitals; about 98,000 people die from them each year,” says Dr. Soden. “That means you can contract a secondary infection at the hospital.”

10. What else can I do to treat my condition?

Recent studies suggest that diet and exercise are essential for treating and preventing everything from heart attacks to prostate cancer, yet only one in six doctors discusses how to use nutrition to prevent disease, according to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Researchers in Colorado, meanwhile, found that only 28 percent of doctors mention exercise to their patients. Many primary-care physicians work with dietitians and trainers who can help treat patients with lifestyle-influenced health problems, such as type 2 diabetes. So even if your doctor doesn’t have answers regarding nutrition and exercise, he likely knows someone who does.

I was told not to drink any fluids or eat any food for 2 hours prior to my procedure. I took this advice seriously as I didn’t want to get nausea or throw up with needles stuck in my Neck.

Arrival at the Imaging Center

I arrived at the outpatient scan center, filled out the typical mountain of paperwork and releases.  Here sign this… blah blah.  Who can really read and understand all that fine print when they are in pain?  My advice is to research Discograms BEFORE you have yours so you know what to expect.

After the paperwork shuffle was completed I was seated in the lobby and waited about a half hour until I was called back.  I changed into the standard hospital scrubs - a gown that opens in the back and a pair of the pants.  I then was taken into the operating theater where I was given an IV.

Preparation for the Cervical Discogram

I received 1gm of an inter venous antibiotic, and placed into position on the table under the fluoroscopic arm.  I was also hooked up to a machine to monitor my blood pressure.  The Radiologist that did my procedure made sure a full 45 minutes passed before he began (This is a precaution to prevent infection and possible Discitis).  During that time he took time to explain to me the procedure and the risks and answered my questions.

My main question was about swallowing during the procedure.  Having needles protruding to the center of your cervical spine and swallowing seemed like it was a potential problem, but it’s not. He told me it was okay, but at certain points during the test he would tell me not to.  I didn’t know if I would be able to talk with needles in my neck, but it was no problem. I also asked about the gauge of the needles.  He told me they would be 25 gauge needles.  I had read some Doctors use 22 gauge needles (Lower the gauge the thicker the needle), and sometimes used the 22 gauge to the disc, the slipped a thinner 25 gauge inside the thicker needle.  He said there was no reason to do this.

The worst part of the 45 minute ordeal prior to beginning the test was the alcohol based scrub that was pretty powerful!  The smell was a bit overwhelming so they placed oxygen in my nostrils to help.  They topped off the Alcohol based prep, with another thick yellow gooey prep.  And for the record, this is very hard to wash off… you have to just let the last bit wear off after a few showers.

The Actual Cervical Discogram Begins

After all the preparation it was time for the Doctor to begin testing my discs. I was given a small amount of Versed (Midazolam) through my IV drip and off we went. The Doctor said he would be testing 4 levels between C4 and C7. For those of you who are new to this the level tested is named after the LOWER Vertebra… so the disc material between C3/4 would be called the C4 disc.  You have 7 Cervical Vertebrae but only 2 Discs because C1/2 is a bone in bone joint.  Anyways… moving on with the test experience.

The Doctor did not tell me the levels he was testing (So I would not be biased in my responses). And I could not tell what level he was working on. With the first needle puncture he said (This is going to feel like a bee sting… and it kind of did), then he would push the needle in slowly to the disc.  He used just enough anesthetic to make the procedure unpleasant, but bearable.  When the point of the needle arrived on the edge of the disc, he would tell me then he would push the needle in and tell me as he was injecting.

I should mention that just before each injection I could hear the Fluoroscopic arm move into position.  For those of you who don’t know the Fluoroscope takes X-Ray images in rapid succession so the Doctor can see EXACTLY where he is placing the needles.

He asked me to describe the pain on a scale of 1-10, tell him the location of the pain, and if this was typical of my “normal” pain or different from my “normal” pain.  Then he would withdraw the needle.  At the next level he said “bee sting” and then repeated the process until all 4 levels were complete.

I was told the test would take about half an hour, and that is probably pretty accurate.  It’s hard to keep track of time when you have Versad flowing through your veins.

Your personal pain tolerance will no doubt be different than mine.  I have had many IV’s and Needle procedures so this was pretty commonplace for me.  Yes it hurt!  But it is really not much worse than having dental work done (Okay it’s worse then regular dental, but not much worse than a root canal and it takes less time for the actual test than a root canal!).  The needles hurt most going in, then only for a few seconds during the active injection of the contrast agent.  Not all my discs caused pain… 3 of 4 were painful.  Only 2 of 4 above the “5″ Threshold on a scale of 1 to 10.  What was surprising was the disc that hurt the most was NOT the one I expected to hurt the most. I know this because after the test I asked the Doctor which disc it was that caused the most pain.

On to the CT SCAN

Immediately following the completion of the Cervical Discogram I was wheeled into another room and placed in the CT Scanner.  I’ve had CT Scans before and they are pretty easy.  Because they needed to scan my C6/7 level and I have broad shoulders (Plus my neck was in mild spasm from all the needling) I asked for the straps to help pull my arms down.

The CT Scan was a breeze and only took a few minutes.  Unlike MRI’s CT Scanners are basically open so you don’t need to worry if you are claustrophobic. The Downside to CT Scans is RADIATION.  And they blast you with a pretty high amount.  Be sure to ask your Doctor BEFORE the test about the precautions they use to minimize your exposure.  You want the least amount of radiation possible.

After the CT was complete I asked to talk to the Doctor because I had some questions about followup pain and I was pretty sore.  He offered to give me an injection of pain medication (I declined because I was pretty much doped up from the Meds I had from the IV).  But he did write me a script for a few pills to get me through the next couple of days and told me to be sure to call in to the Scan Center or to my Doctor if I got a fever or felt ill.

I never went to a recovery area, and no one really came to check on me. I waited seated on the side of a bed for about half hour to talk to the Doctor and then got dressed and went home.  Total elapsed time start to finish in the Scan Center was about 3 hours.

And while I felt okay, later on that night I was pretty sore.  I am about 36 hours post procedure at the time of this writing and pretty close to my normal all day everyday chronic pain self.

About the Cervical Discogram Test

Is the risk worth the benefit?  Maybe.  It depends on your own condition and a whole host of other factors.  Most Doctors will not order a Discogram unless they are seriously considering surgery.  The point of the test is to correlate Discogenic Pain to your regular pain.  If your discs are not causing your pain then surgery may not be a good answer for you.  It’s more complicated than that, but that’s the theory anyway. Sometimes the evidence on MRI is so overwhelming that the test is simply not needed.  Other times patients have pain that is just not explained until they have the test. Discograms are subjective test, but can be valuable.  They are also quite expensive!

That’s it… another test another day.

Cervical Discograms are a Diagnostic Test and do NOT treat pain.

According to research done my Kaiser:

In 2007, employer health insurance premiums increased by 6.1 percent - two times the rate of inflation. The annual premium for an employer health plan covering a family of four averaged nearly $12,100. The annual premium for single coverage averaged over $4,400.

Clearly McCain’s proposal of a paltry $5,000 (and $2,500 for singles) won’t even cover HALF the cost of coverage.  Furthermore by forcing busy working families to recruit their own coverage a climate of confusion and plan anxiety is created.  Most companies have specialists to investigate plans for their employees.  Can an individual understand all the legalese in Health Plan contracts?

Factor in the fact that McCain’s plan offers NOTHING for people with pre-existing conditions and the recipe for Health Insurance Disaster is complete!

McCain is out of touch.  And this is just another example.

Washington Post Editorial comment:

In the individual market, administrative costs as a share of premiums are more than 20 percent higher than costs in employer-group markets and in public plans. So much for greater efficiency. Moreover, premiums in the individual market vary by health status, age and geographic location — three factors on which the McCain plan’s tax credits would not vary. The result would certainly be that more people who are sick or are getting up in years or who live in high-cost areas such as Washington would not have health insurance. - LISA DUBAY, Director of Policy Studies, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg, School of Public Health, Baltimore

As a former employee of a Major Health Insurance Provider I can tell you that individual plans not only cost more they offer less to the insured.

Note: This Story was originally published by BBC News In November 2006

A patient’s own stem cells could soon be used to cure chronic back pain, say researchers.
The team from the University of Manchester hope their treatment will be available within three years.

They are perfecting a way to rebuild the soft shock-absorbing discs which separate the vertebrae in the spine.

Damage to these intervertebral discs (IVDs) is a common cause of debilitating low back pain which affects around 12 million in the UK. A treatment which effectively cured the problem could potentially save the UK economy as much as £5 billion a year.

The new therapy, developed by Dr Stephen Richardson, uses mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from adult bone marrow to regenerate spinal discs. MSCs are a class of stem cell which can grow into many different cell types, including bone, cartilage, fat and muscle.

Dr Richardson has succeeded in turning MSCs into the cells which make up the gel-like nucleus pulposus (NP) tissue separating the vertebrae. He plans to begin pre-clinical trials next year, with full patient trials to follow on.  Dr Richardson said: “Once we have extracted the bone marrow from the patient and have purified the MSCs, they will be grown in culture and our patented method of differentiation will be applied.

“They will then be embedded within a gel which can be implanted back into the patient.” No rejection

Since the stem cells are taken from the patient’s own body, there is no chance of them being rejected by the immune system.

The gel is based on a natural collagen similar to one already used for the treatment of cartilage defects.

It is implanted using an arthroscope, a thin tube device slipped through a small incision in the back. Dr Richardson said there was no reason why a patient should not return home on the same day as the procedure, or the day after.

He said: “Once implanted, the differentiated MSCs would produce a new NP tissue with the same properties as the original and would both treat the underlying cause of the disease and remove the painful symptoms.”

Currently, low back pain is treated with a combination of painkillers, physiotherapy or surgery. In severe cases tissue is removed to relieve the pain, or vertebrae fused together.

However, success is limited, and these techniques do not solve the root cause of the problem.

Dries Hettinga, research and information manager at the charity BackCare, said: “This is a really exciting area of research and although it is still early days, the initial results look very promising.”

Read the tiny print on their website:

* Except for the small amount naturally occurring in yeast extract.

MSG is MSG.  Naturally occurring or not, MSG is potentially very dangerous. Cigarette smoke from Naturally Occurring Tobacco is as dangerous as Cigarette Smoke from name brand cigarettes.  So many companies bury the fact that their products contain MSG in “hidden” names like Yeast Extract.

Why does Campbell try and trick people?  Why use Yeast Extract at all.  It’s not a necessary ingredient in soup. This is a very dangerous practice and injures and hurts people who are allergic to MSG.

Corporate Responsibility is an Oxymoron with Campbells Soup.

Learn more about the ingredients in your foods:  Natural News

Giant Food Corporations care about one thing: PROFIT!  They do NOT nor will they EVER care about YOUR HEALTH.

Buy Organic and eat FRESH not out of cans, boxes, or other packages.

– Kevin McKeever
HealthDay
Posted: 2008-04-28 19:05:04

Note: This article was funded by ADR Manufacturer Medtronic, maker of the FDA Approved prestige Cervical Artificial Disc. The real cost of surgery is not just in the upfront expenses.

MONDAY, April 28 (HealthDay News) — Treating cervical degenerative disc disease by surgically implanting an artificial vertebrae onto one’s spine may cost more initially than a traditional disc fusion operation, but it saves the patient almost $6,000 within two years, according to a new study.

The cost savings is primarily from the patient’s ability to return to work sooner after surgery and his or her need for fewer follow-up procedures.

The study — which was funded by Medtronic, the maker of the artificial cervical disc — was expected to be presented April 29 at the annual meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, in Chicago.

More than 200,000 procedures are performed each year in the United States to relieve compression on the spinal cord or nerve roots. The most common involves spinal fusion surgery to unify two or more vertebrae in an effort to strengthen the spine and alleviate chronic neck pain.

A year ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of the first, and to date only, artificial cervical disc in certain cervical spine surgeries. Medtronic’s PRESTIGE disc is a stainless-steel device with a ball-in-trough design, held in place with bone screws.

Researchers conducting a cost-benefit analysis on 541 patients who received either the artificial cervical disc (arthroplasty) or fusion surgery found arthroplasty saved the patient an average of $5,988 over two years following the surgery.

The cost of initial surgery, secondary procedures and medical devices per patient and the average initial procedure cost were both higher for arthroplasty patients than for fusion patients; however, the artificial disc recipients saved long-term, because they needed fewer secondary procedures and returned to work following surgery an average of 38 days sooner than fusion patients.

The return to work alone yielded a gain in work productivity of $6,368, the report said.

“From a societal perspective, the economic benefits associated with these outcomes may offset the increased device costs associated with arthroplasty therapy,” said study presenter Dr. Vincent C. Traynelis, of the University of Iowa, in a prepared statement.

Plastic water bottles are very convenient for carting water around when we are on the go, as they don’t break if we drop them. However, it is worth paying attention to the type of plastic your water bottle is made of, to ensure that the chemicals in the plastic do not leach into the water. If you taste plastic, you are drinking it, so get yourself another bottle.

To be certain that you are choosing a bottle that does not leach, check the recycling symbol on your bottle. If it is a #2 HDPE (high density polyethylene), or a #4 LDPE (low density polyethylene), or a #5 PP (polypropylene), your bottle is fine. The type of plastic bottle in which water is usually sold is usually a #1, and is only recommended for one time use. Do not refill it. Better to use a reusable water bottle, and fill it with your own filtered water from home and keep these single-use bottles out of the landfill.

Unfortunately, those fabulous colourful hard plastic lexan bottles made with polycarbonate plastics and identified by the #7 recycling symbol, may leach BPA. Bisphenol A is a xenoestrogen, a known endocrine disruptor, meaning it disturbs the hormonal messaging in our bodies. Synthetic xenoestrogens are linked to breast cancer and uterine cancer in women, decreased testosterone levels in men, and are particularly devastating to babies and young children. BPA has even been linked to insulin resistance and Type 2 Diabetes. For more of the science on the effects of BPA on our endocrine system etc. Nalgene, the company that manufactures the lexan water bottles also makes #2 HDPE bottles in the same sizes and shapes, so we have a viable alternative.

Unfortunately, most plastic baby bottles and drinking cups are made with plastics containing Bisphenol A. In 2006 Europe banned all products made for children under age 3 containing BPA, and as of Dec. 2006 the city of San Franscisco followed suit. In March 2007 a billion-dollar class action suit was commenced against Gerber, Playtex, Evenflo, Avent, and Dr. Brown’s in Los Angeles superior court for harm done to babies caused by drinking out of baby bottles and sippy cups containing BPA. So, to be certain that your baby is not exposed, use glass bottles.

Check the recycling numbers on all your plastic food containers as well, and gradually move to storing all food in glass or ceramic.

Store water in glass or brass if possible, and out of direct sunlight.

Source: http://trusted.md/blog/vreni_gurd/2007/03/29/plastic_water_bottles

by James J. Yue (Author), Rudolph Bertagnoli (Author), Paul C. McAfee (Author), Howard S. An (Author)

Book Link: Motion Preservation Surgery

This is the most authoritative text available at the time of this writing (August 2008).

* Publisher: Elsevier Health Sciences
* Pub. Date: June 2008

Product Description

New motion-preserving devices are revolutionizing spine surgery but the learning curve for these operations is steep, and great attention must be given to patient and device selection and the perfect execution of each procedure. Only one reference spells out exactly how to perform these new techniques and its peerless author team, comprised of key investigators involved in the devices’ actual clinical trials, is uniquely qualified to help you get the best results! These global leaders in this area discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the full range of non-fusion technologies and present the step-by-step, richly illustrated operative guidance you need to achieve optimal outcomes! 3 hours of surgical video on DVD demonstrate how to perform key procedures, and access to the complete contents of the book online enables you to reference it conveniently from any computer.

* Select the best device and approach for each patient!
* cervical total disc arthroplasty
* lumbar total disc arthroplasty
* lumbar partial disc replacement: nucleus replacement
* lumbar posterior dynamic stabilization: pedicle screw based
* lumbar posterior dynamic stabilization: interspinous based
* lumbar facet replacement
* Produce optimal outcomes with detailed advice on
* advantages and disadvantages of each option
* indications and contraindications
* patient selection
* interpretation of imaging studies
* surgical anatomy and biomechanics
* surgical techniques
* tips and pearls
* See how to perform each technique, thanks to
* step-by-step, full-color illustrations
* more than 3 hours of surgical videos on DVD, narrated by the experts!
* Access to the complete contents of the book online lets you perform rapid searches, follow links to Medline and PubMed abstracts, and more.