The pain in Philip Dain Powell’s neck and arm put the country-pop musician on the couch instead of on stage. After a car accident, he couldn’t perform his music and was unable to do any work.
In April 2007, Powell’s car was struck while he was running an errand in Wayne County. He suffered a ruptured disc in his neck and was soon searching for relief. Physical therapy and other treatments did little for the pain. Powell, 45, discovered that Bryan Payne, MD, chair of the Marshall University Department of Neuroscience, could help.
In November 2007, Powell underwent a surgical procedure at Cabell Huntington Hospital that Payne performed with great success. An absorbable plate was attached to Powell’s spine to help his injury heal. The Lavalette resident calls his decision to see Payne one of his life’s most valuable.
“I made the right decision,” Powell said. “Dr. Payne and all his staff and people at Cabell Huntington Hospital have been great.”
Powell, like other patients suffering from back or spine problems, can find solutions at Cabell Huntington Hospital. The hospital’s partnership with the Department of Neuroscience at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School Medicine has created a home for back and spine care that is growing quickly and adding techniques that will address a variety of spine and back problems for children and adults.
In addition to Payne’s abilities related to spine and back surgery, he has performed more than 300 deep brain stimulation procedures for Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor and dystonia.
New techniques, more solutions
Advanced techniques and surgical procedures new to this area are among the benefits offered by the Department of Neuroscience, Dr. Payne said.
Powell’s surgery was unique because Payne used a dissolving cervical fusion plate on Powell’s spine which means his injury will heal and eventually his own bones will hold his spine together. Some patients with similar symptoms to Powell’s may choose to have a surgery that includes a metal plate implanted along their spine. That type of plate would remain forever, but Powell’s will dissolve within two to four years.
“That’s one of the reasons that I came to Dr. Payne. I didn’t want some product to be put in there permanently,” Powell said.
Payne said the procedure can be very successful for people who suffer from severe pain from ruptured discs in the neck, especially with arm pain.
In addition to the cutting-edge plate Dr. Payne attached to Powell’s spine, neurosurgeon Touissaint LeClercq, MD, recently performed a procedure that helped a patient suffering from spinal stenosis, a common form of lower back problem that causes pain in the legs when walking and is relieved with bending over, such as walking with a shopping cart.
Dr. LeClercq performed a less invasive procedure and used a device called an X-Stop. The device had not been used in Huntington before Dr. LeClercq’s surgery and marks the beginning of what will be many new techniques offered by the Department of Neuroscience for patients in the Tri-State, Dr. Payne said.
Experienced neurosurgeons, specialized services
The Department of Neuroscience has now grown to include three neurosurgeons with plans in place to add more, most pressingly a pediatric neurosurgeon to support the two pediatric neurologists who will be at Marshall University Medical Center and Cabell Huntington Hospital.
“The goal of the department is comprehensive care of the spine and nervous system,” Dr. Payne said.
Charles E. “Ted” Shuff, an adult and pediatric spine specialist will soon begin working alongside the neurosurgeons in the Department of Neuroscience in addition to his role with the Marshall University Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. Combining his surgical experience in orthopaedics with neurosciences related to back and spine surgery will help adult and pediatric patients of the Tri-State with back and spine issues like spine deformity and scoliosis.
Shuff said his upcoming role as an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Neuroscience is a valuable partnership to offer complete services to patients.
“This won’t be viewed as two separate groups,” Shuff said. “It will be a collaborative effort to care for patients with spinal problems.”
Shuff has experience in treating traumatic spinal injuries and in elective spinal surgery for a wide range of spine disorders, including scoliosis from an orthopaedic perspective.
In the six months that they have been in Huntington, neurosurgeons Tony Alberico, MD, and Dr. LeClercq have both made significant contributions to the Department of Neuroscience.
Dr. Alberico joined the department in late 2007 after leaving a successful private practice in Florida. He has performed thousands of surgeries and has extensive experience with spinal devices like those used to correct Philip Powell’s problems.
Dr. LeClercq brought many years of experience to Marshall University and Cabell Huntington Hospital last year and is widely known for his experience with removal of tumors growing from patients’ pituitary glands. He recently traveled to Manhattan to perform three of these procedures at the request of a New York University professor of neurosurgery. Dr. LeClercq was a visiting professor at NYU and the surgeries were used as demonstrations for NYU residents and junior faculty.
The experience these neurosurgeons bring to the area, and their collaborative efforts to meet the patients’ need make the Neuroscience Department a valuable addition to the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine and to Cabell Huntington Hospital.
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