Back & Spine Center
Back and neck pain can have many different causes, which makes it difficult to know what kind of doctor to call when you would like an evaluation. The Cabell Huntington Hospital Back and Spine Center was established to make it easier for patients to find the appropriate healthcare professional for evaluation and treatment.
If you are suffering from back and neck pain, you can speak to a nurse navigator by calling 304.526.2613 or 866.982.3131.
The nurse navigator will interview you to gather medical information.
"This program enables us to quickly get patients headed in the right direction for their treatment," said Rhonda Neal, RN, clinical coordinator and nurse navigator for the Back and Spine Center.
The Back and Spine Center brings together medical specialists from a wide range of clinical areas that can take a team approach to treating patients with back or neck pain. Depending on the diagnosis, your individualized treatment plan may include non-surgical treatment from our physical therapy, pain management or interventional radiology departments and/or a consultation with a back and spine surgeon from Marshall University's Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine.
Non-Surgical Treatment
Patients may become actively involved in their rehabilitation for back and spine ailments through learning how to control their condition, becoming educated about their back or neck pain and setting goals to eliminate the source of pain, if possible. Patient needs vary, so a tailored program of home-based exercises and routine visits with rehabilitation specialists are among the therapy options.
For more severe pain, minimally invasive interventional radiology techniques using X-ray and CT technology are used to perform various therapeutic procedures.
Kyphoplasty and vertebroplasty procedures provide pain relief from compression fractures that are common in elderly patients. Epidural injections and facet injections help with chronic back pain. To reduce pain and promote faster healing, interventional radiology techniques are minimally invasive.
Ahmet "Ozzie" Ozturk, MD, and Ghassan T. Moufarrege, MD, physicians at the Cabell Huntington Hospital Pain Management Center (link!), have provided relief from acute and chronic pain for nearly 20 years and offer many special techniques to relieve back and neck pain. Pain management services include:
- Diagnostic and therapeutic spinal injections for spinal arthritis, disc pain, spinal nerve pain and low back pain
- Epidural and joint injections
- Spinal implants including spinal morphine pumps, baclofen pumps and spinal cord stimulators
- Burning of painful nerve with radiofrequency (ablation) for long term or permanent block
Surgical Treatment
The comprehensive surgical care that patients from the Back and Spine Center receive is provided by a skilled team of specialists from the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine that includes neurosurgeons and a specially trained orthopedic back and spine surgeon who is experienced in treating adults and children. These specialists are able to pinpoint the causes of patients' back and neck pain and then deliver exactly the right level of care. Dr. Anthony Alberico, director of the Back and Spine Center, said the program is proven to speed up evaluation and care for patients.
"This is a valuable service that gives patients access to a wide range of specialists in back and spine disorders," Dr. Alberico said. "We are committed to a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to back and spine care, as well as providing an easy-to-use method for reaching staff and being evaluated."
"We want people who are suffering back and spine pain to know they will have someone to talk to about their treatments and needs," Neal said. "We have everything they need right here on the Cabell Huntington Hospital campus, and patients have someone who will follow their care throughout. Those are important features to make this easy to use."
To start your own evaluation and treatment, please call 304.526.2613 or 866.982.3131.