Unbreakable - 12 News

This is the story of Dr. Chang's "back breaking" innovative surgery at St. Josephs Hospital. We can't wait to show you how well Jackie is doing in a few weeks on 12 News.

Spine surgeon revives patients' joy of life

Opening a dedicated center meant learning to be business owner, too

by Georgann Yara - Apr. 26, 2012 09:47 AM | Special for The Republic azcentral.com

Full article: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/2012/04/16/20120416business-backbone.html

Shortly after opening the Sonoran Spine Center in 1998, Dr. Dennis Crandall discovered that performing the duties of a spine surgeon was somewhat easier than being a business owner.

Years of medical school and countless hours in the operating room spent on one of the most intricate and risky parts of the human body did little to educate the native Arizonan on doing payroll, hiring practices and negotiating a lease.

"Doctors may be smart, but that doesn't mean we know anything about running a business. Frankly, it was daunting," Crandall recalled of opening the original Phoenix location.

"It's really easy to show up and take care of patients, do good work and go home at the end of the day. But I was in the dark about (the business aspect)."

Since then, the founder and medical director of the Sonoran Spine Center has added staff members better equipped to handle the business side while he focuses on patient care and research.

Over the past 14 years, his small business has grown to five locations throughout the Valley. Crandall is the team spine surgeon for the Phoenix Suns, Arizona Cardinals and the athletic department at Arizona State University, his alma mater.

Crandall's deep interest in the spine and passion for research were the driving forces behind his decision to leave a large orthopedic group and launch the spine center.

People with work-related injuries, children with scoliosis, senior citizens with compression fractures, cancer sufferers and weekend warriors who overdo it are among the center's patients.

"The business model is a one-stop shop for all things spine," Crandall said.

A spine separation brought Angela Gonzales to Crandall's office when she was a teenager in 2006. After a two-part surgery to correct the condition that prevented her from participating in physical-education classes and caused her intense pain, the Glendale resident was eventually able to join her classmates and run a mile in under 12 minutes.

She was also 3 inches taller.

"It very significantly affected the quality of my life," said Gonzales, now a sophomore at ASU.

This year, she is taking a Latin-swing dance class. Last year, she did a belly-dance class.

"It's done so much for me. Dr. Crandall is a very, very good doctor," Gonzales said.

Danelle Perata was a member of ASU's golf team when a drunken driver T-boned her vehicle, leaving her with excruciating back pain and a bulging disk. After six months of unsuccessful therapies, with her college golfing career on hold and being unable to walk across campus without pain, she went to Crandall for help.

"That first day, I was in his office, in tears. I was a 19-year-old kid, and that was the lowest point in my life personally. He was very understanding, compassionate and professional," Perata recalled of that day in 2005.

In August of that year, she successfully underwent surgery and was able to play in a tournament for ASU in February 2006. Now an attorney, Perata plays golf recreationally and plays in a co-ed softball league.

"There's nothing I won't do because I'm worried about my back. I don't have any limitations. It's fantastic," she said. "I was told I may never play golf again. To have everything come out so good, it's amazing, and I truly think it's the result of Dr. Crandall himself."

Patients' abilities to golf after spine surgery is one of the 30 different research projects that Crandall and his center continue to examine and publish papers about. Crandall founded the Sonoran Spine Research and Education Foundation in 2000.

Fascinated by human physiology as a student at Westwood High School in Mesa, Crandall wanted to be a doctor and set out to become an orthopedic surgeon.

His interest in the spine was piqued while attending Saint Louis University School of Medicine, when he was introduced to treatments on children with crooked spines.

"The lightbulb went on. Nothing else captured my interest," he said.

Surrounding himself with quality people and hiring only top applicants have been key to his business' success, he said. Crandall admitted that on most days, he would rather spend several hours in the operating room than on the golf course. This kind of enthusiasm has also been instrumental.

"I really enjoy being a spine surgeon and I love what I do, and that's taking care of my patients," he said.

Research at Sonoran Spine Center: Why we elevate academic pursuits in our practice

Written by Dennis Crandall, MD

When I was training as an orthopedic surgery resident, I took care of a young teenage girl who was born with misshaped vertebra. As she grew, her spine began to curve (congenital scoliosis). She was cute, chatty, smart, curious, and she had a severe spinal deformity. Orthopedic knowledge at the time taught that correcting a congenitally curved spine like this girl had should never be done. The appropriate surgery was to fuse the deformity in its place, locking in the curvature forever. Any attempt at corrective surgery meant certain paralysis.

We at Sonoran Spine Center are deeply involved in spine research that is part of treating spinal disease, back pain, and neck pain. Some have asked us why we do research. We are a non-university center; a private practice. Isn't taking care of patients enough? The answer to that question is multifaceted, but really comes down to a basic principle we have always held: Research makes us better doctors. The quest helps us understand how we can do things better and prove what works. Teaching others is a part of our spine center's DNA.

If you had a choice, you would choose this hospital

Written by Dennis Crandall, MD

In our current cost conscious healthcare environment, some people are still looking for ways to preserve high quality while controlling costs. One such effort is going on in Phoenix at the new Oasis Hospital, on 40^th Street and the 202.

Oasis Hospital is a spine and orthopedic only hospital, owned and run jointly by Dignity Healthcare and a group of the elite orthopedic and neurosurgeons in the Phoenix Valley.  It is new, beautifully appointed, and feels more like a boutique resort rather than a stale hospital.  A resort chef was even hired to prepare meals for patients and their families.  Just pulling into the parking lot, the visitor has a distinctly different impression. The design, the glass and stone, everything from the spacious and comfortable lobby to the large high-tech patient rooms, was created to comfort and impress.

How Strong are Spinal Screws and Rods?

BACKGROUND: In the modern era, some of the most painful spinal disorders are successfully treated with spinal fusion of the painful spinal segments. Patients achieve meaningful long-term relief from their pain in up to 95% of cases. For our return to work study done in 2010, click here: Life After Spine Surgery: Do People Really Return to Work?

QUESTION: For people who undergo spinal fusion, solid bone must heal across the joint, and the spinal screws and rods have to hold the spine still while it heals. Should we be concerned about these spinal implants holding secure in obese patients? Large muscular patients? Athletic patients? Golfers? In these patients, the spinal construct has to be very strong. Spinal implants are biomechanically tested by engineers, and there are some differences in the strength of various designs.

METHODS: We tested 18 different spinal screw-rod constructs: 15 different "tulip" screw constructs (from many different companies), and 3 different "post" screw constructs. Our test was a different sort of "real world" biomechanical test: IS A SPINE SCREW AND ROD CONSTRUCT STRONG ENOUGH TO PULL A HUMMER? We attached each of the 18 screw-rod constructs, one at a time, to chains attached on one end to a 8700 lb H2 Hummer, and the other end to a GMC Pickup truck. The goal was to test whether the spinal screw constructs were strong enough to have the truck pull the Hummer using the spine construct as a chain linkage, without the construct failing.

RESULTS: All 15 of the "tulip" type constructs (from many different companies) failed, without pulling the Hummer one inch. The most common mode of failure was either the screws pulled off the rod (inadequate rod grip) or the ball joints in the tulip bent (tulip design platform not adequate for pulling a Hummer). None of these "tulip" type of constructs were able to pull a Hummer. The 3 "post" type constructs tested were each able to pull the H2 Hummer (Medtronic 3Dx straight screws, 3Dx-MPA screws, and 3Dx-deformity screws) a quarter mile down the street without construct failure.

CONCLUSIONS: For patients and surgeons interested in the strongest spinal instrumentation, the "post" screw design appears much stronger than the "tulip" screw construct. While stresses inside the human body do not resemble the force required to pull a Hummer, there are some scenarios where a strong construct may have a distinct advantage

Click on image below to enlarge.