Physicians at CGH test innovative implant to relieve patients’ pain

Chesapeake resident Paul Bogdan lived with a constant pain in his neck. His arm was numb and, after many failed treatments, he had become resigned to bearing the pain day, in and day out.

Doctors diagnosed Bogdan with cervical disk disease. The pain, he was told, was caused by cervical disks pressing against the nerves in his neck. The primary treatment to alleviate the pain was to fuse the disk or the malfunctioning vertebrae, which would provide some relief. However, his neck movement would be hindered after surgery.

Bogdan sought a different treatment, and he found it with two orthopedic surgeons at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center . In 2005, Drs. David Goss of Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center, Inc. and Michael Barnum of the Spine Center at Chesapeake received FDA approval to test an innovative spinal surgery and implant at Chesapeake General Hospital, the Globus Medical Secure-C artificial cervical disk replacement.

“It is essentially an implant,” explained Barnum. “We place it between the affected cervical disks, giving the patients freedom of movement while relieving their pain. Patients feel relief within days.”

The two physicians, who are partners in the project, decided to participate in the study “because we wanted to give patients a different option,” said Barnum, “one that could potentially produce more positive and comfortable results than cervical fusion.”

The FDA gave the physicians’ practice approval to test the procedure at CGH for up to 380 cases in conjunction with Globus Medical. The tests, which are taking place throughout the country, are monitored by the FDA and a Globus Medical team.

“The actual surgery takes one to two hours, and requires only a minimal incision in the patient’s neck,” said Goss. “Our primary goal is to evaluate the overall success rate. Thus far, patients have felt positively about the results and that is, of course, our goal.”

For Bogdan, life is no longer a pain in the neck.