Mayfield Neurosurgeons Using New Mazor X™ Technology at St. Elizabeth Healthcare for More Precise Spinal Fusion Surgery

Neurosurgeons with Mayfield Brain & Spine are employing the next step in minimally invasive spinal (lumbar) fusion at St. Elizabeth Healthcare. Mazor X™ technology is making it easier for surgeons to be more precise and efficient during spinal fusion surgery. The result is that fewer patients need to undergo revision surgery following spinal fusion because of the precision Mazor X offers.

Spinal fusion may be needed when a patient suffers from injury caused by either trauma or a tumor; however, it is most often used to help relieve pain caused by degenerative conditions, including degenerative disc disease, scoliosis, and herniated discs. St. Elizabeth is the first in the region, and one of the first in the nation, to offer the upgraded Mazor X technology for spinal fusion surgery.

Traditionally, an x-ray was used to determine the surgical plan for spinal fusion. Now, Mazor X integrates planning and guidance to provide predictability and precision during spinal surgery.

  • First, exact imaging allows surgeons to plan the steps of surgery with a patient's specific anatomy in mind.
  • Next, Mazor X enables precise guidance of surgical tools and implants

This technology means patients spend less time in the operating room and are less likely to need a revision surgery later. "When you put the work into the planning stage, the results are more precise," explains Tann Nichols, MD, a neurosurgeon with Mayfield Brain & Spine. "So if a patient has an abnormality that wasn't seen on an x-ray, this tool sees it and plans for it."

In addition to Dr. Nichols, Bradbury Skidmore, MD, and Steven C. Bailey, MD, both with Mayfield Brain & Spine, are using the Mazor X technology exclusive to Northern Kentucky during spinal fusion. Any patient who is a candidate for minimally invasive spinal fusion surgery is a candidate for surgery using the Mazor X tool. Any candidate for spinal fusion surgery needs to be in good health, as with any major surgery. The Mazor X tool is just one of many robotic tools offered at St. Elizabeth to increase the efficiency and precision of surgery as part of its advanced standard of care.

To find out more about Mazor X technology for spinal fusion or to make an appointment with a Mayfield neurosurgeon, please call (513) 221-1100 or request an appointment at MayfieldClinic.com.

Mayfield Brain & Spine is the full-service patient care provider of the Mayfield Clinic, one of the nation's leading physician organizations for neurosurgical treatment, education, and research. With more than 20 specialists in neurosurgery, interventional neuroradiology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and pain management, Mayfield Brain & Spine treats 25,000 patients from 35 states and 13 countries in a typical year. Mayfield physicians specialize in the treatment of back and neck pain, sciatica, Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, NPH, epilepsy, brain and spinal tumors, stroke, moyamoya, brain aneurysms, Chiari malformation, scoliosis, kyphosis, facial pain, facial twitch, trauma, concussion, spinal cord injury, and carpal tunnel. As leading innovators in their field, Mayfield physicians have pioneered surgical procedures and instrumentation that have revolutionized the medical art of neurosurgery for spinal diseases and disorders, brain tumors, and neurovascular diseases and disorders.