Columbia Neurosurgery » Peripheral Nerve

Winfree Talks About Nerve Injuries in Athletes at CNS 2010

Department Author — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 07:46:11 +0000

Dr. Christopher Winfree from the Peripheral Nerve Center and the Pain Center participated in several programs at the recent Annual Meeting of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS).

He was part of a panel on Sports-Related Spinal and Peripheral Nerve Injuries. In his talk, Nerve Injuries in Athletes, he gave examples of several classes of injuries including; direct trauma, indirect trauma, overuse, entrapments, and injuries that mimic others types of conditions.

Dr. Winfree also gave a presentation on the ins and outs of Neurostimulation Coding for Physicians.

Further, he served as a moderator for two events held by the CNS Section on Pain; the Top Ten Abstracts, and the Neurosurgical Forum.

Spinal Cord Bypass Surgery “Breathes” New Life into Man’s Legs

Department Author — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:35:30 +0000

A 48 year old man, we’ll call Hank, fell off a ladder and broke his back. He suffered a complete spinal cord injury and had no feeling or movement from the waist down. Doctors were able to get him in the operating room within 48 hours of his injury where they performed an experimental new surgery. They used a nerve from Hank’s chest to perform a spinal cord bypass. Dr. Christopher Winfree from the Center for Peripheral Nerve Surgery and colleagues published Hank’s case study this year in the February Issue of Neurosurgical Focus.

When the spinal cord is completely severed, all feeling and movement below the level of injury is instantly cut off. The spinal cord won’t heal on its own and surgeons can’t repair it. However, the nerves that branch off of the spinal cord, peripheral nerves, can be repaired. These are nerves that give us feeling and movement in our arms and legs. Peripheral nerves, like a gecko’s tail, can regenerate. This process can take years, depending on the length of the nerve, but it is possible, nonetheless.

Dr. Winfree currently heads the Center for Peripheral Nerve Surgery Laboratory where he is researching the possibility of using peripheral nerves to bypass the site of spinal cord injury and return sensation and movement where is has been lost.

The peripheral nerve that Hank’s surgeons chose was an intercostal (between the ribs) nerve. These nerves travel around to the chest and help us breathe. They detached one of these long nerves, re-routed it below the level of Hank’s injury, opened the lining that protects the spinal cord and slipped the end of the nerve inside.

After the surgery, Hank went through the usual eight weeks of inpatient rehabilitation to learn how to cope with his spinal cord injury. Five months after his surgery, Hank started to report some feeling in his thighs. At ten months after surgery Hank started to move his leg at the hip. What was curious was he could move his leg best when he held his breath (something the intercostal nerves help us do). Spontaneous movements of his leg were also coordinated with his breath. It is impossible to say for sure whether some of Hank’s recovery would have happened anyway, but it sure looks like it was the bypass that breathed new life into Hank’s legs.

Click here to read Drs. Winfree, Oppenheim, and Spitzer’s paper Spinal cord bypass surgery using peripheral nerve transfers in the February issue of Neurosurgical Focus.

Click here to learn more about spinal cord injury.

Vincent Carrao, DDS, MD

Brigitte Matsuoka — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:08:46 +0000

Ty J. Olson, M.D., F.A.C.S.

Brigitte Matsuoka — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:42:37 +0000

Dr. Olson specializes in tumor resection within eloquent regions of the brain, performing awake surgery with intraoperative mapping. He also performs minimally invasive spine surgery, X-Stop interspinous implantation and a wide variety of neurosurgical procedures such as gamma knife and cyber knife radiosurgery treating problems throughout the brain, spine and peripheral nervous system.

He earned his medical doctorate from the Duke University School of Medicine where his work on optical imaging of seizures earned him the Talmage Lee Peele Award for Research in Neurobiology as well as a grant from the Epilepsy Foundation of America. Dr. Olson trained in neurological surgery at the Neurological Institute of New York, Columbia University. His main office is located in West Long Branch, serving all of Central New Jersey.

Dr. Olson’s special interests include Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, Brain tumors, Gamma Knife and Cyber Knife Radiosurgery, Tomotherapy

Medical School:	Duke University School of Medicine, M.D. 1999
Residency Training:	Columbia University Neurological Institute of New York