Ernest Braxton, MD, performed the first awake robot-assisted transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion in Colorado, according to a Feb. 20 LinkedIn post.
Four things to know:
1. In a Feb. 21 Instagram post, Dr. Braxton said awake minimally invasive TLIF procedures are a treatment option for spondylolisthesis patients with intractable symptoms. The awake procedure lets him avoid the risk of general anesthesia, he said.
2. Dr. Braxton and neurosurgeon Muhammad Abd-El-Barr, MD, PhD, are working on a paper about their experience with robotic awake spinal fusion, according to LinkedIn.
3. Dr. Braxton completed his first awake spinal fusion in 2016.
4. Dr. Braxton is a spine surgeon with Vail (Colo.) Summit Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery.