A new procedure offering an alternative to spinal fusion is gaining traction in the medical community, and a Southern Illinois facility has the distinction of being the first to perform the procedure in Illinois.
Dr. Richard A. Kube is among a handful of doctors nationwide to introduce the Coflex Interlaminar Implant to his patients at Prairie Spine and Pain Institute in Peoria. The implant is offered at Kube’s satellite offices across the state, including Marion where Kube performed the first Coflex implant and the first two-level Coflex implant at Southern Illinois Surgery Center in Marion.
The device is the first FDA approved device to provide dynamic stability, said Kube. The coflex implant is placed between the vertebrae following decompression surgery to provide stability in the spinal column.
“We often decompress the spinal nerves to help relieve pain,” Kube said. “In a number of those cases, especially when there is underlying spinal instability, we have to fuse the patient at the time of the decompression. This device helps us to lower the number of fusions we have to perform.”
To read the article in its entirety, click here.