Spine care

Thanks to our orthopedic care specialists' experience and training, we can resolve many back and neck issues that you may face using nonsurgical means.

Some of the nonsurgical spine treatment options we offer include:

Physical therapy

Physical therapy is important for patients with conditions affecting the spine or neck. Rehabilitation can help you avoid surgery, but it is also important after an operation. It can help you regain function by using exercises focused on specific areas, such as gait training and strength building.

A physical therapist may consult with you before discharge from the hospital. They will also work with your doctor to determine if other treatments such as heat, ultrasound, spinal traction, electrical stimulation, spinal manipulation or aqua therapy can help.

Epidural steroid injections (ESIs)

An ESI is an injection of steroid and anesthetic into an area of inflamed nerves in the back. The anesthetic acts to block the pain while the steroid works to reduce inflammation.

Facet joint injections

Spine specialists use facet joint injections to verify the location and source of pain. These injections can also be used to reduce inflammation or offer long-term relief.

Pain management

A pain management specialist may prescribe medications to help patients manage spine pain without undergoing surgery. A physical therapist may also teach you techniques to help you manage pain and strengthen your back.

Our facility features the latest surgical technology and skilled spine surgeons who are trained to use advanced equipment for spine treatments. We use innovative techniques and technology to offer both traditional (open) and minimally invasive surgical options.

We offer a wide range of traditional surgical procedures to treat back, spine and neck conditions, including:

Anterior cervical diskectomy

If you're experiencing pain, weakness, numbness or tingling, you may have a cervical disk herniation. A herniated disk can be removed through an anterior approach (through the front of the neck) to relieve spinal cord or nerve root pressure and alleviate corresponding symptoms.

During this procedure, a small portion of the bone over the nerve root and/or disk material from under the nerve root is removed relieving pinching of the nerve and facilitates more room for the nerve to heal.

Decompression surgeries

Goals for decompression surgery are to remove pressure off the pinched nerves and spinal cord and ultimately lessen pain and restore function.

These procedures include:

• Cervical laminoplasty
• Diskectomy
• Facetectomy
• Foraminotomy
• Laminectomy

Disk replacement

In this procedure, your surgeon will replace a damaged disc while preserving the natural movement of your neck. This is unlike a cervical fusion procedure, where the vertebrae are fused together.

Spinal fusion surgery

Fusion surgery joins two or more vertebrae together to become one solid piece of bone. The disk is removed and replaced with a cage (spacer) filled with bone graft material and is secured in place using titanium screws, rods or plates. Bone graft materials that can be used vary based on your type of surgery, but may include your own bone, synthetic bone, bone marrow from your own body or donor bone.

A spinal fusion can alleviate degenerative disk disease or other conditions, especially when physical therapy and exercise don't seem to work for you. This procedure reduces some of the pressure on the nerves, aiding in pain reduction and potential nerve injury.

We are the first hospital in Tennessee to offer AR-guided spine surgery, enhancing precision and safety for minimally invasive procedures. The technology allows your surgeon to “see” your spine in 3D through the skin during minimally invasive surgery. This technology allows your surgeon to provide better control and visualization, leading to easier, faster and safer surgeries.

AR-guided spine surgery lets your surgeon focus directly on you rather than relying on distant screens. Comparable to real-time GPS, this technology offers precise guidance for implant placement tailored to your unique anatomy.

What are the benefits?

AR provides numerous benefits for both the surgeon and the patient, such as:

• More personalized procedures
• Smaller incisions
• Highly accurate spinal implant placement
• Better control and visualization, leading to easier, faster and safer surgeries
• Less radiation exposure
• The focus is on you, the patient, instead of an overhead screen

Conditions treated with AR

• Degenerative disc disease
• Failed neck and back syndrome
• Spinal deformity (scoliosis/kyphosis)
• Spinal stenosis
• Spondylolisthesis
• Radiculopathy

Minimally invasive surgical techniques were developed to effectively treat disorders while reducing damage to muscle tissue. Some minimally invasive procedures are performed with robotic technology that allows for more precise control. Other procedures can be done without robotic assistance.

In either case, this method allows our surgeons to see the spine with a surgical microscope. These procedures also allow for:

• Less pain
• Less scarring
• Reduced muscle damage
• Shorter hospital stays
• Shorter recovery periods

Robot-assisted spinal surgery

We are the first hospital in Rutherford County to offer a groundbreaking new robotic guidance and navigation system that provides minimally invasive surgical options for several complex spinal, orthopedic and neurological conditions.

With this advanced technology, our spine surgeons can perform a variety of spine surgeries with real-time visualizations of a patient’s anatomy to help improve the accuracy of procedures. The robotic guidance and navigation system puts the surgeon’s hands at the controls of a robotic platform so refined that even the most complex, delicate procedures are performed with unmatched precision.

How does robot-assisted spinal surgery work?

You will take a preoperative computerized tomography (CT) scan that will allow the surgeon to make a personalized surgical plan based on your anatomy. The preoperative CT scan along with the intraoperative CT scan and X-ray imaging allows our spinal surgeon to visualize your anatomy and the locations of their tools in real-time.

During surgery, the robotic arm guides the surgeon based on your personalized surgical plan to the exact location for screw placement.