At Atlantic Spine Specialists, we are happy to assist you in all aspects of spinal care. We see patients as the first doctor to treat them, as well as patients who have already been treated non-operatively by other doctors through medication, therapy or injections. We manage all aspects of non-operative care of the spine, as surgery is often the last option. It is always a good idea to see a spine surgeon early on to help coordinate your conservative plan.

To be a Spine Center of Excellence, a facility must encompass:

• Excellent equipment. The equipment must be state-of-the-art operating instruments including microscopes and the latest technologies available, include instrumentation used for spine surgery. The facility also needs to include proper recovery rooms and patient rooms to allow postoperative care to be of the highest level.
• Excellent personnel. The personnel required at a Spine Center of Excellence must include anesthesiologists, nursing staff and surgeons of the highest caliber. The facility’s operation must anticipate that surgery is being performed with a great enough frequency, allowing anesthesiologists, nursing staff and surgeons to all work in a coordinated fashion providing the highest level of care.

You should expect significant improvement in your preoperative condition after spinal surgery. Spinal surgery is typically not performed without some historical documentation to support surgery. Spinal surgery is usually performed when alternative approaches have been exhausted. Doctors Giordano and Nachwalter always discuss and try non-surgical options prior to resorting to surgery.

Although the amount of work is typically not considered a measure of the quality of work, spine surgery is a specialty that requires a lot of experience and dexterity, both of which improve with frequency of work. On average, a board-certified spine surgeon will do at least four operations a week. At Atlantic Spine Specialists, Dr. Carl P. Giordano and Dr. Richard S. Nachwalter perform an average of 15 spine operations a week. That volume increases their surgical ability to provide the highest level of care, minimizing surgical complications, blood loss and time required by surgery. The level of expertise and experience does translate into better outcomes for the patient.