Spine care

A healthy neck and back allow for fluid movement, but, when there is a deformity, injury or disease of the spine, common activities may become painful. Many times, back pain will begin to improve within a day or two of restricted activity or over-the-counter medication. However, if you find yourself taking medication repeatedly or over an extended period of time to relieve back or neck pain, you should see one of our spine specialists.

No two spines are the same. We emphasize conservative approaches to care, such as physical therapy or injections, before recommending spine surgery.

We are able to accomplish this through:

• Advanced intraoperative imaging tools — Our surgeons use advanced technology that provides 2D and 3D images during any spinal procedure. This offers more precise diagnosis, treatment and patient safety.
• Compassionate care — We’re here every step of the way with nurse navigation, care coordination and treatment plans customized to your needs.
• Multispecialty teams — Our teams include board-certified and fellowship-trained doctors from orthopedic care, neurosurgery, psychiatry, anesthesiology and pain management — to provide whole-patient care.
• Presurgical education — Before your surgery, we offer one-on-one education classes with our nurse navigators to help you prepare for spine surgery and improve your outcome.
• Specialized programs after surgery — After your surgery, our hospitals also offer education, pain management services and both inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation from licensed therapists who understand orthopedic and spine conditions.

Center for Scoliosis and Spinal Deformities

The Center for Scoliosis and Spinal Deformities at Reston Hospital Center treats the most complex scoliosis and spinal deformity conditions. They offer teams of experts to support you during diagnosis, treatment and recovery.

We offer a wide range of treatments to ensure patients heal as quickly as possible.

Nonsurgical and minimally invasive spine surgeries

Our nonsurgical and minimally invasive therapies include:

• Interventional spine procedures — including radiofrequency ablation that uses heat to destroy tissue, like tumors, or the sensory nerves that are causing pain
• Nerve stimulation techniques — delivers low-voltage, electrical currents to relieve pain, as in transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) therapy and implanted peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) devices
• Rehabilitative care — involves physical therapy to strengthen and stabilize the core using medically supervised fitness plans developed by board-certified physical therapy doctors, called physiologists
• Spinal injections — involves image-guided technology to deliver medications to relieve pain and reduce inflammation (including epidural steroid injections, facet joint injections, sacroiliac joint injections, nerve blocks and trigger point injections)

Advanced spine surgery

Our back and spine surgeries include:

• Digital biplane angiography (3DBRA) — advanced imaging that creates a roadmap of your blood vessels to precisely locate and treat injuries
• Disc replacement surgery — replaces a damaged disc with an artificial one
• Discectomy and microdiscectomy — removes all or part of the disc, or the cushion between the vertebrae
• Foraminotomy — removes bone or tissue to open the space where the nerves leave the spinal canal; sometimes also performed along with spinal fusion surgery
• Kyphoplasty — uses a balloon to create a space between vertebra, which is filled with medical cement
• Laminectomy or laminotomy — removes part of the back bone which covers the spinal canal to relieve pressure on the spinal nerves; often performed along with spinal fusion surgery
• Spinal fusion — increases spine stability by joining two vertebrae using bone grafts and sometimes implants like rods and screws (we use absorbable implants that eventually disappear)
• Vertebroplasty — treats spinal fractures, eases pain and restores height (medical cement is injected into the spongy vertebral bone)

Robot-assisted spine surgery

Our hospitals offer the most experienced spine centers in the area. In fact, our spine surgeons lead the way regionally and nationally in advanced spine surgery. When possible, we offer minimally invasive robotic surgery. These techniques result in less trauma to muscles and tissues, enabling quicker operations, less pain after surgery and faster recoveries.

Our team-based approach

Our expert team will provide you with seamless orthopedic spine care from diagnosis through recovery. We bring together your specialist, primary care physician and a host of other clinical support staff committed to returning you to an active lifestyle as quickly as possible.

Your team may include:

• Orthopedic doctors (orthopedists)
• Orthopedic surgeons
• Neurologists
• Nurses
• Anesthesiologists