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the Anatomy of the Spine: Unlocking Matthew B. Kern, M.D., neurosurgeon at Neurological Surgery, P.C., at his desk in his Port Jefferson, NY, office Minimally Invasive Techniques at Neurological Surgery, P.C. THE FIELD OF SPINAL SURGERY HAS SIGNIFICANTLY EVOLVED SINCE FRENCH PHYSICIAN NICOLAS ANDRY PUBLISHED HIS TOME, ORTHOPAEDIA, ON CORRECTING DEFORMITIES IN CHILDREN IN 1741. TODAY, LONG ISLAND PATIENTS CAN ACCESS A MYRIAD OF MODERN DEVELOPMENTS — FROM IMAGE-GUIDED SPINE SURGERY TO POSTERIOR LUMBAR INTERBODY FUSION — DELIVERED BY MODERN-DAY EXPERTS AT NEUROLOGICAL SURGERY, P.C. S PINAL SURGERY IN the 20th century revolved around a singular approach to targeting deformities, degenerations, and injuries of the spinal cord and individual vertebrae through the back. According to Matthew B. Kern, M.D., neurosurgeon at Neurological Surgery, P.C., diseased vertebrae located in the anterior section of the spine were once almost inaccessible or only reachable through very complex posterior approaches. In the 1950s and 1960s, the introduction of cervical approaches widened the options available to both patients and surgeons. Dr. Kern explains that the 1970s and 1980s brought the first spinal surgery instrumentation, starting with posterior Harrington rods. These early devices gave way to Cloward Dowel instruments for the cervical spine and then the first spine plate implant, the Caspar Spine Plate. "Over the ensuing years, the basic concepts of how to fixate the spine so it maintained biomechanical stability, as well as the integrity of the spine's balance, have improved techniques to the point that we now have a multitude of ways of approaching the spine," says Dr. Kern. "The other components that have changed dramatically — especially in the last two decades — are the materi- als we now use for spinal implants." These developments have paved the way for the cutting-edge techniques and approaches utilized by neurosurgeons at Neurological Surgery, P.C., including SPECIAL CLINICAL SECTION: PAIN MANAGEMENT SPECIALISTS