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Overview

Greenwich Hospital has a long history of specializing in advanced, minimally invasive spine surgery and is certified by the Joint Commission for cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spinal surgery. Spine Center neurosurgeons bring a high rate of successful outcomes to patients, reducing their pain and allowing them to live a more active life.

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Spinal fusion surgery is an option for patients who no longer get relief from other treatments, and are experiencing chronic pain or impairment due to spinal instability, unstable fractures, deformities of the spine or spondylolisthesis.

The Greenwich Hospital neurosurgery team delivers exceptional clinical care in a compassionate and supportive environment. Known for its quality of care, the team includes specially trained neurosurgeons, nurses, physical therapists, physician assistants, nursing assistants, rehabilitation specialists, case managers and the program coordinator.

We have a pre-operative patient education program and our program coordinator guides each patient from the time the surgery is booked until after the patient returns home from the hospital or short-term rehabilitation. Patient support services include making discharge arrangements and coordinating home care and rehabilitation services.

An option for surgical patients is autotransfusion, enabling a patient’s own blood to be transfused, if needed, during a surgical procedure. This may reduce the need for a transfusion from donated blood and risk of infections that can result from traditional blood transfusions.

Treatment Options

Minimally Invasive Surgical Techniques

Neurosurgeons at Greenwich Hospital perform minimally invasive spinal fusion through two or three small one-inch incisions using a tiny scope to guide the surgery. Miniaturized instruments and innovative techniques help protect surrounding tissue. This causes less trauma to the body and offers significant advantages to patients including:

  • Quicker recovery
  • Less blood loss
  • Less scarring
  • Less pain
  • Faster return to normal activity

Non-surgical Spine Treatment

Depending on a patient’s spine condition, varied symptoms such as pain, weakness, and numbness may be successfully alleviated with nonsurgical treatments, including rest, activity modifications, anti-inflammatory medications, physical therapy and home-based exercise.

Nonsurgical therapeutic injections to treat inflammatory conditions in the spine include:

  • Cortisone (steroid) injections to relieve inflammation.
  • Interventional physiatry to treat pain using anti-inflammatory injections into the spine, guided by X-ray for precise placement.
  • Platelet rich plasma (PRP) treatment to promote healing of injured tendons, ligaments, muscles and joints. The patient’s blood is drawn, platelets separated from other blood cells, and then injected back into the patient.

Advanced imaging technology incorporated within our spine services includes:

  • Globus ExcelsiusGPS® robotic navigation system – This system’s robotic guidance and real-time visualization enable extremely precise placement of screws or implants during spinal surgery.
  • StealthStation™ neuro-navigation system – Allows our neurosurgeons to operate more precisely and with smaller incisions by mapping a patient’s anatomy. It may be used for spinal fusion, lumbar fusion and corrective surgeries for conditions including scoliosis and herniated disc; as well as during brain surgery. With fewer and smaller incisions, healthy tissue is preserved and complications are reduced, thereby promoting quicker patient recovery than more invasive methods.
  • O-arm™ imaging – An advanced imaging system enables neurosurgeons performing spine surgery to view real-time 3-D images to support precise navigation around the spinal anatomy.
Yale School of Medicine

Yale New Haven Health is proud to be affiliated with the prestigious Yale University and its highly ranked Yale School of Medicine.