Spinal Disease

Center for Spine Health

The Center for Spine Health is an interdisciplinary, multispecialty group that provides comprehensive care for spine-related disorders. The center’s goals include accurate diagnosis of all spine disorders, return to function, and measurement of patient-reported outcomes. An ongoing focus on outcomes has brought changes to the center through analysis of performance, quality, and cost. These outcomes represent ongoing efforts to standardize care around best practices to provide maximum patient benefit at minimal cost to patients and the health system.

The center offers a full continuum of care including medical management, physical therapy, pharmacological interventions, image-guided spine procedures, surgical interventions, acupuncture, osteopathic manipulation, specialized exercise programs, and a functional restoration program for chronic pain. The center consists of board-certified neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, spine-medicine specialists, physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists, rheumatologists, internists, neurologists, advanced practice providers, and psychologists.

Cervical Deformity Quality of Life and Functional Status

2020 – 2021

One of the more challenging surgeries performed at Cleveland Clinic is cervical deformity surgery. Almost all patients report improvement in their quality of life following correction of their deformity. A total of 67% of patients found improved functional status that affects their mobility and hand dexterity.

Spondylolisthesis Quality of Life

2020 – 2021

One of the more common pathologies managed at Cleveland Clinic is spondylolisthesis, where 1 level in the spine has slipped over the other level. This creates severe pain, disability, and sometimes leg weakness. Surgical intervention can be either decompression or a fusion surgery, dependent on the patient and their medical imaging. A total of 66% of patients report improvement in their quality of life following surgical intervention in spondylolisthesis.

Thoracolumbar Deformity Quality of Life

2020 – 2021

Several specialists have dedicated their efforts to managing patients with thoracolumbar deformity. Thoracolumbar deformity can be a complicated pathology requiring expert evaluation and management. Through thorough evaluation and patient selection, there is a high success rate of 69% following this surgery at 1 year with patients reporting improvement in their overall quality of life.

Return to Work and Usual Activities Following Cervical and Lumbar Surgeries

Patients are evaluated very closely before returning to work and usual activities following spinal surgeries. More than 74% of patients return to work following surgical interventions and 51% return to their normal activities.

Weight Changes Following Cervical and Lumbar Surgeries

One of the goals of the Spine Center is to help patients increase their mobility and facilitate weight loss. 74% of patients report either no weight gain or even weight loss following lumbar surgical intervention.