Anders Cohen: Pioneer Spinal Surgeon

Back pain is second only to the common cold as a reason for staying home from work. About 62% of cases where people miss work are back pain related. Anders Cohen, the Chief of Neurosurgery at the Brooklyn Hospital Center, provides world-class surgical treatment for back pain.

Dr. Cohen specializes in treating spondylosis and scoliosis. Spondylosis occurs when the intervertebral discs lose moisture and volume. When this happens, even minor trauma can cause major problems. Scoliosis is a condition wherein a person’s spine is curved from side to side. Scoliosis is either congenital or idiopathic.

Though trained in both traditional and minimally invasive surgical procedures, Dr. Cohen is a pioneer in minimally invasive surgery for the brain and spine. His pioneer status comes from the fact that he was the first doctor in the New York metropolitan area to use the extreme lateral interbody fusion (XLIF) and axia lumbar interbody fusion (AxiaLIF) surgical techniques, which he successfully used to treat degenerative scoliosis and spondylosis.

In XLIF, only two small incisions are necessary for the actual procedure, but other small incisions may be used for greater access or to insert dilators. This procedure only splits muscles and does not cut them. As such, many patients are able to get up and walk around the night after the surgery. The XLIF is not suitable for surgeries targeting the L5-S1. For these cases, AxiaLIF is used and access is created through an adjacent sacral bone incision. Like with the XLIF, no muscles are cut and recovery time is relatively quick. Not only are recovery times quicker but studies show a significant reduction in intra-operative blood loss as opposed to traditional surgical approaches.

Anders Cohen is such a renowned expert in his field that he goes around the world performing lectures on several related topics and trains surgeons to perform the latest techniques. His services are also sought after by top professional athletes.