CNS Blog
Trigeminal Neuralgia: Patient 78 years, medically refractory facial pain, wants no pain and no more Tegretol. Understood. Travelled to us. Done.
This lovely gentleman of 78 years, is the most senior Trigeminal Neuralgia (aka ‘Tic‘ facial pain) patient that I have operated in my years of doing this beautiful (at least, to a neurosurgeon) microsurgical procedure. Age 78. I think it’s a sign of the times, with people living longer and understandably wanting fulsome and happy, […]
Read More1-, 2-, & 3-level anterior lumbar spinal reconstructions: Beautiful, functional, structural – Tailored solutions using artificial disc + sleek fusion cage combinations
Here are four lovely patient examples of damaged discs in injured or degenerative spines being restored functionally and structurally to help alleviate patients’ pain and disability. I use state-of-the art, unique French prosthetics. The surgery to access the spine in these particular operations is done via the abdomen, a single incision through the skin and […]
Read MoreKlippel-Feil Syndrome. Congenital fusion. Cervical spinal cord & foraminal decompression in stages.
Klippel-Feil syndrome (KFS) is a condition that involves at-birth/congenital (autologous) fusion of some of the cervical vertebrae. That fusion causes acceleration of degenerative changes above and below the fused “block” of vertebrae, often leading to earlier cord compression. In this older man (aka “young retiree”) who I recently operated on with KFS, this was his […]
Read MoreOrientation of your lower lumbar joints and the implication for back pain: Abnormal “coronal orientation” of facet joints and a “pars defect”
The lower lumbar facet joints (illustrated below) are usually oriented at around 45 degrees between the side-on midline plane (“sagittal”; side-on perspective) and the front-on midline plane (“coronal”; front-on perspective). These lubricated ‘synovial’ joints help guide movements and also stabilise the spine, and prevent it from becoming misaligned (listhesis; “slipped”). The lumbar facet joints (a […]
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