John Muir Health's NeuroSpine specialists treat spinal trauma, disease, and tumors along the entire spine from skull to sacrum. Fellowship-trained spine neurosurgeons work with neuroradiologists, neuro-oncologists and experienced neurosurgical operating room and nursing staff to provide the most advanced diagnostic and surgical techniques.

John Muir Health's Spine Surgeons perform over 650 spine surgeries each year. Call the Physician Referral Services to contact a spine surgeon.

Diagnoses

• Ankylosing Spondylitis
• Cervical Spinal Stenosis
• Degenerative Disc Disease
• Disc Herniation, Cervical Disc Herniation
• Herniated Disc
• History and physical exam for low back pain
• Lumbar Spinal Stenosis
• Medical history and physical exam for a herniated disc
• Neck Problems & Injuries, Neck Pain
• Peripheral Nerve Disease and Neoplasms
• Spinal Cord Injury
• Spinal Stenosis (Cervical & Lumbar)
• Spine Trauma
• Spinal Tumors
• Spondyloarthropathies
• Spondylolisthesis
• Whiplash

Prevention

• Cervical spinal fusion
• Decompressive laminectomy for spinal stenosis
• Exercises to reduce low back pain
• Interactive Tool: Should You Consider Surgery for Your Low Back?
• Percutaneous discectomy for a herniated disc
• Should I (or my child) have surgery for scoliosis?
• Spinal fusion for scoliosis

Treatment

Treatment may include a wide range of interventions. Under physician direction, John Muir Health's Outpatient Therapy Centers in Danville, Rossmoor, Walnut Creek, Concord and Brentwood can assist you by providing education, pain control and individualized exercise treatment programs.

Specialized Procedures:

Complex Spine Reconstruction: Trauma, disease and skeletal deformity can result in spinal instability and compression of the spinal cord causing pain and loss of neurological function. John Muir Health offers advanced techniques to reconstruct and stabilize the spine at all levels, including anterior fixation, interbody fusion, spinal prosthetic device, pedical screw fixation and other unique techniques.

Discectomy/ Microdiscectomy: A minimally invasive surgical technique used to correct spinal nerve compression from herniated discs and other forms of pathology, often using a surgical microscope for magnification and performed through a small (e.g., 1 inch) precisely placed incision. These procedures can often be done on an outpatient basis.

Disc Replacement: An artificial disc is a device that is implanted into the spine to imitate the functions of a normal disc. There are two general types: total disc replacement and disc nucleus replacement. Indications for disc replacement vary.

Laminectomy, Laminoplasty, Foraminotomy: Sometimes called a decompression procedure. The lamina form a roof over the neural canal. The lamina can be removed in whole or in part to expose a single nerve root (or more) and remove the pressure on that root to decrease pain.

Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery (MISS): Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery is designed to facilitate a faster surgical recovery with less pain and less blood loss than with the traditional open surgical approach. MISS incorporates recent technological advances for spinal and intra-dural tumors.

Peripheral nerve reconstruction: Peripheral nerve injuries can be a result of stretching, contusion or laceration experienced during trauma. Our surgeons utilize microsurgical techniques to remove lesions or repair nerves with internal and external neurolysis and end-to-end suture or nerve graft repairs.

Spinal Fusion: Spinal Fusion, Cervical Spinal Fusion - A surgical technique in which one ore more of the vertebrae of the spine are united or "Fused" together so that motion no longer occurs between them. Bone grafts are placed around the spine during surgery. The body then heals the grafts which join the vertebrae together.

Stereotactic Radiosurgery: John Muir Health has consistently acquired new technologies. Novalis® Shaped Beam Surgery™ is a non-surgical, outpatient treatment being used to treat a variety of cancerous and non-cancerous conditions of the brain, spine and vital organs throughout the body.

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