The UAB Department of Neurosurgery has launched a Neurosurgical Spinal service Board focusing on the treatment of patients with complex spinal disorders.

Department of Neurosurgery Professor Mark N. Hadley heads the neurosurgical spinal service board along with department faculty members Drs. Mamerhi Okor, Patrick Pritchard, Melissa Chambers, Daniel Harmon, and Jakub Godzik.

The Neurosurgery Spinal Board members review and discuss patients with complex spinal disorders, share advice and experiences, review medical evidence and best practices, consider clinical trial opportunities, and collaborate to provide the best strategies of medical and / or surgical treatment for each patient's condition.

Spinal Board meetings occur every other Tuesday during which faculty members identify strategies that are critical to exceptional surgical delivery, including operative approach options, internal fixation and fusion considerations, critical care management, system mechanisms, personnel coordination, the application of intraoperative technology and imaging, and supervised instruction for neurosurgery resident trainees. Hadley is certain that this will have a positive impact on patient care.  

“The concept is to review patient characteristics and potential treatment strategies in advance of treating patients,” said Hadley. “The hope is that an informed consensus will provide an ideal treatment strategy and minimize the length of surgery, potential blood loss, and complications related to the surgery, which in turn will optimize patient results, shorten length of hospital stays, and reduce the likelihood of additional surgeries.”

Currently, the Spinal Board serves as a Quality Improvement / Quality Assurance tool for the Neurosurgery Spine Team. The future goal is to expand participation to include trainees and adjunct surgical, anesthesia and critical care faculty.  

For any questions regarding the neurosurgical spinal service board, contact Dr. Mark N. Hadley.