Here are 18 spine surgeons performing or researching lumbar and cervical disc replacement procedures. If you would like to recommend additional surgeons for this list, please contact Heather at hlinder@beckershealthcare.com.
Paul A. Anderson, MD (University of Wisconsin, Madison). Dr. Anderson is a professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Wisconsin and a member of International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery. He has a professional interest in complex cervical spine disorders and has research focusing on the development of an artificial cervical disc. His additional research interests include the advancement of spinal fixation implants and disc regeneration. Throughout his career, Dr. Anderson has published articles in professional journals about several topics, including a comparison of the short-term results between total joint arthroplasty and cervical spine decompression and fusion. Dr. Anderson earned his medical degree at Wayne State University Medical School, where he also completed his residency. His additional training includes a fellowship in spine surgery at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
Hyun Bae, MD (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles). Dr. Bae is the co-director of the spine fellowship program at the Cedars-Sinai Spine Center. He has a professional interest in minimally invasive surgery, motion preservation technology, non-fusion technologies and artificial disc replacement. Dr. Bae was among the first surgeons to use multi-level artificial disc replacements for both the lumbar and cervical spine. His research is also on the cutting edge of using growth factor tissue engineering for intervertebral discs. Dr. Bae earned his medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., and he completed his orthopedic surgery residency at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. His additional training includes a spine fellowship at Case Western Reserve Hospital in Cleveland.
Gordon Bell, MD (Cleveland Clinic). Dr. Bell is the director for the Center for Spine Health at the Cleveland Clinic. He performs cervical artificial disc replacement surgery, as well as procedures such as cervical deformity surgery, lumbar fusion, spine decompression and complex spinal surgery. He has held leadership positions in the North American Spine Society and International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine. Dr. Bell is the co-editor of two spine textbooks and the associate editor for Spine and the associate board member of The Spine Journal. Dr. Bell completed his internship and residency at Cleveland Clinic. He served a spine fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia.
Scott Blumenthal, MD (Texas Back Institute, Plano). Dr. Blumenthal is a co-director of Texas Back Institute's Center for Disc Replacement, along with Richard Guyer, MD, and Jack Zigler, MD. He played a key role in the country's first trial of the Charite artificial disc and was among the first surgeons to perform a total disc replacement in the United States. He recently published research on the two- and five-year follow-up results of the total disc replacements he performed, and he lectures widely on both lumbar and cervical disc replacement procedures. In addition to his practice, Dr. Blumenthal also serves as a spine consultant for the Dallas Mavericks and is a clinical assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. Dr. Blumenthal earned his medical degree at Northwestern Medical School in Evanston, Ill., and completed his residency in orthopedic surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Dallas. His additional training includes a trauma fellowship at Midwest Regional Spinal Cord Injury Care System at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
Arash Emami, MD (University Spine Center, Wayne, N.J.). Dr. Emami has a professional interest in treating patients with complex spinal disorders and has expertise in minimally invasive spine surgery. He was among the first spine surgeons to perform a total disc replacement in the lumbar and cervical spine. He is a consulting team physician for the New York Rangers and a physician with University Spine Center. Dr. Emami serves as the director of spine surgery at Saint Joseph's Regional Medical Center in New York City. In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Emami serves as a clinical assistant professor at NYU/Hospital for Joint Disease and is a member of North American Spine Society, Scoliosis Research Society and American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Dr. Emami earned his medical degree at the University of Chicago, where he also completed his residency. His additional training includes a fellowship at the University of California in San Francisco.
Rolando Garcia, Jr., MD (Orthopedic Care Center, Aventura, Fla.). Dr. Garcia is a member of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery and North American Spine Society. He has participated in several studies about total disc replacement surgery, including the FDA Charite trial and a comparison of the clinical outcomes for lumbar artificial disc replacement and fusion procedures. In addition to his journal articles, he has authored a book chapter on the history of the artificial disc. Dr. Garcia earned his medical degree at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, where he also completed his residency in orthopedic surgery. His additional training includes a fellowship in spine surgery at North Carolina Spine Center.
Jeff L. Garr, MD (Orthopedic Physician Associates, Seattle). Dr. Garr performs several procedures, including disc replacement, X-Stop, lateral lumbar interbody fusion and anterior, posterior and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion. He is a member of many professional organizations, including the North American Spine Society and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. He is also a volunteer medical provider for local high school athletic teams. Dr. Garr earned his medical degree at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., and completed his residency at the University of Washington in Seattle. His additional training includes a fellowship with the Spine Care Medical Group in Daley City, Calif.
Jeffrey A. Goldstein, MD (NYU Langone Medical Center's Hospital for Joint Diseases). Dr. Goldstein is the director of the spine service and the associate director of spine fellowship at NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York City. He has an expertise in minimally invasive surgical techniques and his current research involves clinical trials for lumbar and cervical disc replacements. In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Goldstein serves on the editorial board for The Spine Journal and The Journal of the Spine Arthroplasty Society. Throughout his career, Dr. Goldstein has instructed several other surgeons on disc replacement techniques and served in an advisory capacity to news media outlets. He is a member of several professional societies, including the North American Spine Society and Society of Nucleus Arthroplasty. Dr. Goldstein earned his medical degree from State University of New York Downstate Medical Center at Brooklyn and completed his training in orthopedic surgery at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland. He also completed a fellowship in spinal disorders at Johns Hopkins University Medical Institute in Baltimore.
Stephen Hochschuler, MD (Texas Back Institute, Plano). Dr. Hochschuler is a fellowship-trained spine surgeon with the Texas Back Institute. He is board-certified in orthopedic surgery, and a past president of the Spine Arthroplasty Society. He is also a founding member of the board of directors for the organization. He has published more than 30 studies on lumbar and cervical total disc replacement. Dr. Hochschuler received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in Boston, where he also completed his surgical residency. He completed his orthopedic surgery residency at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.
Kenneth Pettine, MD (The Spine Institute, Loveland, Colo.). Dr. Pettine is a fellowship-trained spine surgeon who performs spine procedures and research, including on artificial disc replacement, as well as non-fusion spine technologies. He is a co-inventor and designer of the Maverick Artificial Disc, a device for lumbar spine replacement. Dr. Pettine has also been the principal investigator into more than 15 FDA studies on non-fusion technology. He founded the Rocky Mountain Associates in Orthopedic Medicine and The Spine Institute, where he currently practices. He is the founder of the Society for Ambulatory Spine Surgery and Orthopedic Stem Cell Institute. Dr. Pettine received his medical degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver and completed his residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. He completed his spine fellowship at the Institute for Low Back Care in Minneapolis.
James Rappaport, MD (Sierra Regional Spine Institute, Reno). Dr. Rappaport was the principle investigator for the Kineflex Lumbar and Cervical Disc Replacement clinical trials at St. Mary's Regional Medical Center in Reno, and he has authored a professional article based on the results. Dr. Rappaport is a fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and a member of several other professional societies. He is also a team physician for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association and has been a spine surgeon representative to the U.S. Department of Defense. Throughout his career, Dr. Rappaport has given several presentations on minimally invasive spine surgery techniques. Dr. Rappaport earned his medical degree at the University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco, where he also completed his residency in orthopedic surgery. His additional training includes spine surgery fellowships at the Texas Institute for Spinal Disorders in Houston and at London (England) Clinic.
Rick Sasso, MD (Indiana Spine Group, Indianapolis). Dr. Sasso is a founding member and president of the Indiana Spine Group. He is also the co-medical director of the St. Vincent Spine Center in Indianapolis and the chief of spine surgery at Indiana University School of Medicine. His research interests include cervical and lumbar arthroplasty, cervical spine biomechanics and intraoperative spinal image navigation. Throughout his career, Dr. Sasso has published articles in professional journals on several topics, including his research into the Bryan Artificial Disc. Dr. Sasso is a member of several professional organizations, such as International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgeons, North American Spine Society and American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Dr. Sasso earned his medical degree at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis and completed his residency at the University of Texas in Houston. His additional training includes fellowships in spine surgery at Northwestern University in Chicago, Baylor University in Houston and AO Spine in Switzerland.
Saqib Siddiqui, MD (The Spine Center, Houston). Dr. Siddiqui is the president and CEO of The Spine Center. He has a professional interest in minimally invasive solutions for spine surgery and disc replacement. He has published several articles based on orthopedic and spine surgery in professional journals and written a text book chapter on lumbar spinal arthroplasty. Dr. Siddiqui is a member of several professional societies, including the North American Spine Society and International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery. Dr. Siddiqui earned his medical degree at the University of New South Wales Medical School in Sydney, Australia, and completed additional training at St. Vincent's Medical Center/Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in New York City. He also completed fellowships in spine surgery at Texas Back Institute in Plano and Texas Orthopedics & Sports Medicine in Tomball.
Lali Sekhon, MD (Sierra Neurosurgery Group, Reno, Nev.). Dr. Sekhon is double fellowship-trained spine neurosurgeon at Sierra Neurosurgery Group. He specializes in degenerative disc disease, as well as cervical myelopathy, spondylolisthesis, spinal tumors and trauma. Dr. Sekhon performs artificial disc replacement procedures and started performing arthroplasties outside of the U.S. in 2001. He conducts research in cervical and lumbar disc prostheses, spinal implant designs and bone morphogenic proteins. He is a member of the North American Spine Society and American College of Surgeons. Dr. Sekhon is a fellow of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and on the editorial board for the Journal of Spinal Disorders & Techniques. He earned his medical degree from the University of Sydney in Australia and completed additional training at Yale-New Haven (Conn.) Hospital. Dr. Sekhon also completed a fellowship at Mayo Clinic and another at Toronto Western Hospital in Canada.
Robert Tatsumi, MD (Oregon Spine Care, Tualatin). Dr. Tatsumi is an instructor for Synthes Pro Disc C and L as well as Medtronic's Bryan Disc. He is currently working on long term outcomes studies on cervical hybrid constructs incorporating disc replacements and spinal fusions. He specializes in minimally invasive spine surgery and completed his spine surgery fellowship at LA Spine Institute in Santa Monica, Calif.
Richard Wohns, MD (South Sound Neurosurgery, Puyallup, Wash.). Richard N.W. Wohns, MD, is the founder, president and neurosurgeon at South Sound Neurosurgery in Puyallup, Wash. Dr. Wohns specializes in neurosurgery including outpatient and minimally invasive spine surgery. His subspecialties include complex spine surgery and cervical and lumbar disc arthroplasty. Dr. Wohns has performed more than 130 cervical disc arthroplasties and is one of the first neurosurgeons in the United States qualified to perform the revolutionary XLIF technique for minimally invasive lumbar fusions. He is a member of American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Society of Lateral Access Surgeons and Washington State Association of Neurological Surgeons. He earned his medical degree at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn. He completed a postgraduate fellowship in neuroradiology at National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, England and his residency at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Christopher A. Yeung, MD (Desert Institute for Spine Care, Phoenix). Dr. Yeung has been the principal investigator in several FDA studies, including the Cervicore cervical artificial disc replacement and DASCOR total nucleus replacement and a subinvestigator for the Flexicore lumbar artificial disc replacement. He has a professional interest in minimally invasive spine surgery. In addition to his clinical practice at Desert Institute for Spine Care, Dr. Yeung is Team Spine Surgeon and Consultant for the AZ Diamondbacks, AZ Rattlers, and many Cactus League teams during Spring Training, including the LA Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners, and Colorado Rockies. He is a member of several professional organizations, including the North American Spine Society and American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Dr. Yeung earned his medical degree at the University of Southern California School of Medicine and completed his orthopedic residency at the University of California Irvine Medical Center. His additional training includes a spine surgery fellowship at the USC Center for Orthopedic Spine Surgery/Los Angeles Spine Surgery.
Jim Youssef, MD (Spine Colorado, Durango). Dr. Youssef has a professional interest in lumbar artificial disc replacement, minimally invasive procedures and scoliosis surgery. He is a member of several professional organizations, including the North American Spine Society, International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. During his career, he has published several professional articles on spine topics, including revision strategies in lumbar total disc arthroplasty, and he participated in a poster presentation comparing cervical total disc replacement to anterior cervical discectomy and fusion. Dr. Youssef also serves on the editorial board and review committees for multiple professional publications, including Spine. He earned his medical degree at the University of California in Irvine and completed his residency in orthopedic surgery at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H. His additional training includes a fellowship in spine surgery at the University of California in Sacramento.
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