The UI Spine Center has surgical and rehabilitative specialists to treat both young patients with adolescent scoliosis and older patients with degenerative scoliosis. Treatment techniques include simple observation, bracing, physical therapy, and surgical reconstruction. Contact a spine specialist for specific recommendations.
Patients who have sustained a compression fracture typically endure months of mid-back pain waiting for the fracture to heal.
Using a new technique called kyphoplasty, surgeons insert a catheter into the site of the fracture and inject a bone cement which can heal the fracture nearly instantaneously. Patients are placed in a spinal brace for several weeks to allow the spine to heal and are typically able to resume light daily activities. This procedure can be helpful in some patients who have developed a traumatic fracture or a pathological fracture due to spread of cancer.
An innovation that may be helpful for many patients with degenerative disc pain is disc replacement. Although studies are still ongoing, there may be evidence that some patients with chronic discogenic back pain may benefit from this procedure.
Spinal injections can be helpful for diagnosis and treatment of patients with various types of low back pain, including spinal stenosis, nerve root, or "radicular" pain, facet pain or sacroiliac joint pain. When patients have pain going from their back to below their knees, this pain is sometimes due to a "pinched nerve." Spinal injections using local anesthetics and powerful steroid medications can decrease the inflammation around the nerve root and decrease pain. These injections are best done under fluoroscopic guidance in a specially equipped procedure room.
Physicians in this specialty, called physiatry, diagnose and treat patients with disorders of the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves, as well as patients with bone, muscle and joint pain. Using this non-surgical, rehabilitative approach, most patients are able to improve their quality of lives without surgical intervention. Physiatrists are physicians who use a combination of physical therapy referrals, prescription medication management, injection therapy, or surgical referral if structural problems continue to hold back function.
Nerve conduction studies and needle electromyography, performed as a part of the electrodiagnostic medicine consultation, can help spine physicians determine the extent of nerve or muscle injury due to a pinched nerve. These tests are performed by a physician with training in the performance and interpretation of these diagnostic tests and then can correlate these findings with your specific clinical situation.