Minimally Invasive Laminectomy with Combined Fusion
This patient has two levels of pathology with a collapsed disc at L4-5, arthritic joints, and an eroded endplate. What does that mean? It means right now, they are not…
Laminectomy: From Navigated Spine Surgery to Examining X-Rays
Remember that inside look at how navigated spine surgery works from Tuesday? Well here's another view: X-rays. Check out how much space we opened up! Struggling with chronic back or…
Treating Spondylolisthesis with a Laminectomy
The theme today is tight. (And unfortunately, by "tight" I don't mean "cool".) This young and active octogenarian has spondylolisthesis – where a vertebra slips forward onto the vertebra below…
Treating Spondylolisthesis in 2025 (Part 2/5): Spinal Fusions
(Part 2/5) When I was a young spine surgeon in the late 1980s, a patient with degenerative spondylolisthesis typically ended up with a laminectomy and spinal fusion. Cue the controversy.…
Severe Back and Leg Pain
You won't believe what I found when this patient – who had a previous fusion years ago with BAK cages placed – came to see me with severe back and…
Transforming Lives, One Spine Surgery At A Time
Transforming lives, one spine surgery at a time! Back in May, we closed out our week by tackling three SI joint fusions on patients who've all had previous lumbar fusions, a…
Twosday – Double the Surgeries, Double the Fun
Happy Twosday – Double the surgeries, double the fun! Today we're tackling a two-level cervical disc replacement to treat one patient, and treat severe stenosis in our second patient, an active…
A Multi-Level Laminectomy to Treat Severe Stenosis
(Part 3/4) Age and level of fitness have to be considered when determining if a patient is eligible for spine surgery, as well as determining which procedure will be most…
Foot Drop and Nerve Compression
Here's another new medical term for you: foot drop. Foot drop basically means difficulty lifting the front part of your foot, which can happen because of nerve compression in the…
Laminectomy and Fusion L4-5 S-1
Although this patient had an L5-S1 laminectomy years ago, they're now experiencing back and leg pain plus stenotic pressure on the spine. To correct this, I performed a laminectomy and…