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The Neurospinal Disorders Program provides diagnostic and therapeutic services for patients suffering from congenital, traumatic, infectious, neoplastic, arthritic, and degenerative disorders of the spinal vertebra, spinal cord, and spinal nerves. Specialists use the most advanced techniques available for spinal imaging, neurological assessment, electro-physiological testing, and surgery.
 
Practitioners focus on reduction of spinal deformities, decompression of neural structures, and reconstruction of incompetent vertebral structures using spinal instrumentation for fusion (arthrodesis) of unstable spinal joints. Spinal nerve and cord function is monitored routinely during surgery to prevent injury to vital neurological structures. The overall goals of treatment are pain relief, prevention of paralysis, and restoration of functional capacity.
 
The Neurospinal Disorders Program specializes in the treatment of complex and difficult spinal tumors. Both metastatic and primary tumors are treated, including bony tumors of the spinal column and tumors within the spinal cord itself. Our trained specialists use a combination of advanced techniques to safely remove tumors from the spine and reconstruct the vertebral column if necessary. In addition, Cyberknife® radiosurgery offers nonsurgical treatment of such tumors if surgery is not an option. Our collaborative efforts with other departments including medical oncology, radiation oncology, orthopedics, general surgery, and physiatry in the treatment of such complex tumors offer patients a truly multi-disciplinary approach.
 
Minimally invasive spinal surgery techniques are also used in the Neurospinal Disorders division. In a select group of patients, such procedures have the potential to treat spinal diseases and disorders through much smaller incisions and with less tissue dissection. We are leading clinical studies that examine outcomes of minimally invasive procedures to see to what extent they differ from standard open techniques.