During Florida's dog days of summer—the hottest, most sultry stretch of the year –Stephen Goll, MD, took center stage at one of modern medicine's most fascinating, historic events.

 

On Aug. 18, Goll, an orthopedic spine surgeon from Orlando Orthopaedic Center, performed artificial cervical disc replacement surgery with an estimated 1,200 onlookers as part of his surgical team.

 

For this particular procedure, Goll used the PRESTIGE® Cervical Disc, the first artificial disc for the neck approved in the United States.

 

"The surgery went extremely well," said Goll, who narrated step by step procedures to the audience while moderator G. Grady McBride, MD, fielded questions. "We found what we expected from the pre-op workup on this 42-year-old male, and he went home the next day without the pain he'd been experiencing."

 

Every year, some 200,000 patients receive surgical treatment for cervical disc degenerative disc disease (DDD) to relieve neck pain, arm pain numbness, tingling, and/or weakness from a pinched nerve in the neck related to a herniated disc. Before, spinal fusion surgery had been the current standard of care for patients suffering from DDD. The procedure calls for implanting an interbody graft and metal plate to rigidly fuse the vertebrae together.  Because fusions restrict motion at treated levels, some leaders in the medical community had been concerned that it may cause additional complications at adjacent levels of the spine.

 

Using the PRESTIGE® Cervical Disc provides patients with DDD and associated neurologic symptoms an option to cervical spinal fusion. The device is comprised of a two-piece stainless steel patented ball and trough to permit motion. Goll is one of few orthopedic surgeons specially trained in performing this procedure.

 

"I'm privileged to be part of this educational program," Goll said. "I want to share with the workers compensation arena in Florida the benefits I've experienced with shorter hospital stays and rehabilitation, quicker return to work, and restoration of motion and flexibility with the spine."

 

Even though he had led numerous video training sessions and teaching seminars for various surgical procedures, the Aug. 18 event marked the first time Goll had performed surgery transmitted live. "My partner, Randy Schwartzberg, MD, had performed a rotator cuff repair last year in this type of setting, and I was attracted to doing this type of procedure because of the advantages of disc replacement versus fusion," he said. "For one thing, there's no need for repeat surgery five to 10 years down the road. The patient isn't immobilized afterward, and therefore, recovery is accelerated."

 

Board-certified as a diplomate of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and the American Board of Spinal Surgery, Goll has been practicing medicine for 17 years in Orlando. He is one of 15 fellowship-trained physicians and surgeons at Orlando Orthopaedic Center, which was established in 1972 and now has five offices located throughout Central Florida. 

 

Black Diamond Services, Medtronic, McKesson, Linear Medical Solutions, and in kind sponsors, Stryker and Orlando Health, made the live surgery event possible. The two-way visual and audio program was telecast from the operating room at Orlando Health to the Marriott World Center. Risk managers, attorneys, adjusters and nurse case managers from the Florida Workers Compensation

 

Conference learned first hand the benefits of this cutting edge surgical procedure. By witnessing the live telecast surgery, the decision makers were able to ask Goll questions relating to Florida's injured workers during the procedure.  

 

"Everyone seemed to understand what we were doing, and the benefits from this surgical treatment for DDD," said Goll.

 

The best part, he emphasized, is that patients no longer have to suffer from neck and arm pain.