Browse the following links featuring Medical Director Dennis Crandall, MD: 8 Pillars of Success at Sonoran Spine 10 Spine Surgeon Practice Leaders to Know 10 Spine Surgeons for Professional Basketball Teams 92 Team Physicians for Professional Basketball

Browse through the following topics to view Dr. Crandall's responses for Becker's Orthopedic, Spine and Pain Management's Ask Spine Surgeons. Ask Spine Surgeons is a weekly series of questions posed to spine surgeons around the country about clinical, business and policy issues affecting spine care. Which Spine Procedures Are Difficult to Receive Reimbursement For? 7 Spine Surgeons on Using Robotic Technology Spine Surgeons: Is An ACO in Your Fut…

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 40th 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, an…

Spine practices can follow one of several different business models with a focus on either surgical cases, non-surgical cases or a mix of both. When founding his group, Sonoran Spine, Dennis Crandall, MD, chose a model that emphasized treating all different types of patients. "We have chosen a model on purpose that embraces all spine disease in adults and children — operative and non-operative," says Dr. Crandall, who now serves as the practice p…

Did you miss the story on The Doctors with Dr. Chang and his scoliosis surgery? Here is your chance to watch it!

Mornings start early on most days, with hospital rounds starting well before 6:30am. We surgeons need to evaluate every patient that is in the hospital under our care prior to beginning the day's activities. Rounds consist of formulating an outline the day's recovery plan for each patient who is in the hospital (all have had surgery within the past few days), coordinating that plan with the nurses and therapists, checking in with the incredibly v…

SPINE SURGERY THROUGH THE SCOPE SPINAL SURGERY FOR DEFORMITY History - The first report of surgery to fuse a diseased spine was published in 1911 by Hibbs. Early results using what were primitive techniques were less than encouraging and spinal fusions fell out of favor. In the 1940's posterior (from the back) spinal fusions became increasingly recognized as valuable for certain diseases such as tuberculosis of the spine, and later for spinal def…

Low back pain usually resolves without physician intervention. However, if back pain doesn't go away, it's important to obtain an accurate diagnosis so treatment can be initiated. The physician must be able to distinguish between typical degenerative processes, muscular strains, nerve impingements, infections, and finally, a spinal tumor. Through a thorough evaluation including physical examination and diagnostic imaging, the physician can acquir…

Spine surgery, like other aspects of medicine, is moving more towards minimally invasive techniques and innovative ways of approaching the common problems that patients suffer in the neck and back. Just in the last 10 years, there have been significant improvements in techniques to improve outcomes and shorten recovery times so critical to patients when considering elective surgeries. Minimally invasive procedures use techniques and instrumentati…

You have a painful low back, and your doctor says that you need to see a spine surgeon. You have heard from your friends and family who have said, "Never let anybody operate on your spine" or "My friend had back surgery. He is now worse than he was before surgery," or the scariest, "It'll paralyze you." At the Sonoran Spine, we''ve heard all the stories. We want to dispel the myths about spine surgery and help you to understand there are real sol…