Ernest Braxton, MD, and Jonathan Schoeff, MD, of Frisco, Colo.-based Vail-Summit Orthopaedics completed the country's first trans-umbilical implantation of a lumbar artificial disc, according to the Summit Daily.
Here's what you should know:
1. They performed the procedure at Summit Medical Center in Frisco.
2. The belly-button approach corrects a degenerated disc in the spine that causes debilitating pain and allows the patient to heal without scarring on the belly.
3. Raymond Clout, the method patent holder, confirmed the Vail-Summit Orthopaedics surgeons were the first in the U.S. to perform the procedure.
4. Dr. Schoeff provided access while Dr. Braxton did the implant.
5. Spinal fusion operations can create more stress on the body and cause adjacent segment disease, according to Dr. Braxton.
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