MDNews - Mid Hudson

COMPREHENSIVE CARE Each yea r, BSSN Y sees nea rly 5,000 patients a nd per forms approximately 2, 200 procedures — nea rly double the volume the g roup saw just a few yea rs a go, says Dr. Abra ha ms, who is a lso Co-director of the spine section of the Or thopedic Spine Institute, President o f t h e We s t c h e s t e r Ne u r o s c i e n c e Resea rch Foundation a nd A ssociate Professor of Neurolog ica l Surger y at New York Medica l College. " I at tribute t he g row t h we've seen to the longevit y of our tea m," he says. "Most of the people in the practice have been here a long time. They not on ly have established solid reputations a nd refer ra l pat ter ns, but t hey have a lso made us the predomina nt neurosurg i- ca l g roup through a l l the procedures they 've mastered." The scope of those procedures ranges f r om t h e c om m on t o t h e c omple x . A mong the more common procedures BSSN Y surgeons per form is a nterior cer v ica l decompression for patients suf fer i ng f rom severe neck a nd a r m pa in resu lting from a her niated disc that is in direct contact with a ner ve. Phy sica l t herapy i s t he f i r s t l i ne of treatment , but for patients for whom therapy is unsuccessful, anterior cer vi- ca l decompression y ields sig nif ica nt, immediate pa in relief. Surgeons create a sma ll incision in t he neck, remove t he herniated disc, and replace the disc with either a fusion dev ice or replacement disc. Patients m ay ret u r n home t he sa me day a nd prompt ly resu me nor ma l a ctiv ities, D r. A br a h a m s not e s . T h at not on ly enha nces the patient experience a f ter surger y but a lso encoura ges patients to seek the ca re they need in the f irst place, he adds. "The fear of spine surgery is lessened when patients find out it 's an ambula- tory procedure," he explains. "In fact, a go od por t ion of t he pro c e du re s we perform a llow patients to go home the sa me day. In the past, a ny discussion of a patient having a bone fusion pro- cedure had a negative connotation, so referring physicians were reluctant to offer this as a solution. Now, because of the evolution of techniques such as disc replacement, latera l f usion a nd anterior fusion, patients and referring physicians feel more comfortable with the procedures and realize the outcome will be better." BSSN Y 's specia lists a lso per for m extremely complicated procedures. For example, at their Northern Westchester Hospita l location, they a re capable of treating complex brain tumors minimally invasively with the Gamma Knife. The Gamma Knife uses collimated beams of ionizing radiation to treat tumors with tremendous precision, sparing norma l tissue. According to the Internationa l RadioSurgery Association (IRSA), the device has been supported by more than 2,500 peer-reviewed articles. "The Gamma Knife is a very complex device that a llows us to treat tumors w it hout s u r ger y, a nd t h a n k s t o it s minima l ly inva sive nature, patients are frequently able to go home the same day," Dr. Abrahams says. "In the Hudson Va lley, we are one of the few organiza- tions that have this device." John M. Abrahams, MD JOHN M. ABRAHAMS, MD, President of Brain & Spine Surgeons of New York (BSSNY) since 2015, is also Chief of Neurosurgery at Northern Westchester Hospital, Co-Director of the spine section of the Orthopedic Spine Institute, President of the Westchester Neuroscience Research Foundation and Associate Professor at New York Medical College. In addition to performing a wide range of procedures, Dr. Abrahams launched the Westchester Neuroscience Research Foundation to study spinal cord injuries, brain tumors and stroke recovery. In 2004, he came to BSSNY after having served as an attending neuro- surgeon at Montefiore Medical Center. "For me, joining BSSNY was an easy decision," Dr. Abrahams says. "I knew many members of the group and considered it an outstanding practice. They provided fantastic clinical care and had an excellent reputation." Dr. Abrahams uses the latest technology to show patients their results so they understand the plan moving forward. Lumbar spine model with fusion device to show patients prior to surgery M D N E W S .C O M /// M D N E W S M I D H U D S O N ■ 2 016 0 7

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