[et_pb_section admin_label="section"]
[et_pb_row admin_label="row"]
[et_pb_column type="4_4"]
[et_pb_text admin_label="Text"]
Local doctors perform first spinal disc surgery of its kind in the U.S. (Summit Daily, Summit County CO)
Vail-Summit Orthopaedics surgeons complete spinal disc implant surgery via the belly button
A first-of-its-kind surgery in the United States was recently performed by two Vail-Summit Orthopaedics surgeons at Summit Medical Center in Frisco.
Dr. Ernest Braxton and Dr. Jonathan Schoeff completed the trans-umbilical (belly button) implantation of lumbar artificial disc, allowing the patient to heal without any scarring on the belly. The method patent holder for natural orifice surgery to the spine is Raymond Cloutier, who Dr. Braxton said confirmed that Vail-Summit Orthopaedics had in fact performed the first of these procedures in the United States.
Dr. Braxton said this particular procedure corrects a degenerated disc in the spine that causes debilitating pain. The more common surgical correction would be to fuse two bones together in a procedure known as a spinal fusion operation. However, that procedure can end up creating more stress on...
