Becker's has recently reported on five physicians who are on the cutting edge of spine surgery, from being the first to use specific devices to being appointed as endowed chairs at major universities.
Here are five spine surgeons to know:
Richard Allen, MD, PhD
Dr. Allen is a professor of orthopedic surgery at UC San Diego School of Medicine and was recently appointed as the first to hold the Behrooz A. Akbarnia, MD and Nasrin A. Owsia, MD Endowed Chair in Spinal Surgery. His clinical expertise includes adult reconstruction and complexities of the cervical spine.
Dr. Allen is also a leader in "novel and personalized care options, including minimally invasive techniques and augmented reality surgical approaches," according to a Nov. 21 news release from the university.
Richard Guyer, MD
Dr. Guyer is a spine surgeon and co-founder of the Plano-based Texas Back Institute as well as the director of its Spine Fellowship Program.
He recently was one of the two surgeons who performed the first cases with Sure Retractors' sterile anterior and posterior cervical retractors. He used the new retractor for a 2-level cervical disc replacement.
Gregory Lopez, MD
Dr. Lopez is an orthopedic spine surgeon at the Chicago-based Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush. He specializes in minimally invasive treatment of complex degenerative spine disorders.
In October, he completed the first U.S. case with ZimVie's 4.5mm Mobi-C cervical disc. The new 4.5 mm height disc was approved by the FDA in August.
Daryl Osbahr, MD
Dr. Osbahr is a surgeon at Orlando, Fla.-based Rothman Orthopaedics and executive medical director for the AdventHealth Orthopedic Institute in Zephyrhills, Fla. AdventHeath became the first facility to complete 100 surgeries with the bridge-enhanced ACL restoration implant in October, and Dr. Osbahr completed a majority of those procedures.
He recently joined Becker's to discuss his journey with the procedure.
Brandon Strenge, MD
Dr. Strenge is an orthopedic spine surgeon at The Orthopaedic Institute of Western Kentucky. He specializes in minimally invasive spinal surgery and motion-preserving procedures to treat cervical and lumbar spine disorders.
In October, he completed some of the first procedures using spine technology company Expanding Innovations' X-PAC expandable lateral cage system. The cage system is an alternative to the traditional inner cage lifting screw, aiding in foraminal height restoration and facilitating indirect decompression.