Jake Measom, MD, performed southwest Wyoming's first spine jack procedure, The Kemmerer Gazette reported Dec. 5.
Dr. Measom's patient had severe injuries and needed a vertebra repaired with bone jacks, the report said. The procedure is a a modern version of the kyphoplasty procedure. It's a minimally invasive procedure requiring two small incisions.
"While the kyphoplasty certainly would have been helpful in terms of stabilizing the fracture and treating pain," Dr. Measom said about the case. "I don’t think it would have been as effective in terms of restoring height and restoring function in the same way that the spine jack did."
Dr. Measom is a spine surgeon at Evanston (Wyo.) Regional Hospital.