Spine Care

At Allegheny Health Network’s (AHN) Spine Center, part of AHN Neuroscience Institute, we understand how debilitating a spine or back condition can be. Our uniquely qualified spine specialists use the latest surgical techniques and imaging technologies to help relieve chronic pain so you can get back to your life.

Spine center at AHN: Why choose us?

Patients choose AHN for spine care because of our:

• Expertise: Our board-certified neurosurgeons are leaders in their fields, performing thousands of spinal surgeries each year, with exceptional outcomes. Our surgeons pioneered the use of revolutionary surgical equipment, including the first robotics technology for spine surgery.
• Personalized treatment plans: We develop the treatment plan that’s right for you. You may be able to manage your symptoms through nonsurgical treatments, such as physical therapy. If you need surgery, our neurosurgeons use minimally invasive procedures whenever possible. This approach uses tiny incisions, typically leading to a shorter recovery, less pain, and fewer scars compared to a traditional procedure.
  
• Team approach: You receive personalized, compassionate care from a team of experts from different specialties. These physicians meet regularly, collaborating to ensure you receive efficient and seamless care.
• Coordinated care: We have the resources you need to help you feel better. From diagnosis through treatment and recovery, you’ll find all of your care in one place, so you don’t need to go anywhere else.
• Focus on whole health: We work hard to help keep people healthy and avoid unnecessary tests and treatment. We focus on whole health – looking at the big picture of a person’s health rather than just treating a condition. Our team works to improve the spinal condition while ensuring you receive appropriate follow-up care. We also help you adopt healthy lifestyle habits, so you can stay well now and in the future.
• Extensive research efforts: AHN’s robust neuroscience research program studies promising new spinal technologies, leading the way in developing innovative therapies for back and spine conditions. In one clinical trial, AHN physicians are developing electrodes that work more naturally with the human brain, for use in deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy.

Spine conditions we treat

At the Spine Center, we treat a range of conditions, including:

• Arthritis
• Degenerative spine conditions
• Herniated disks
  
• Pain caused by chronic conditions, injury, or pregnancy
• Pinched nerve
• Sciatica
• Spasticity, a movement disorder caused by cerebral palsy, a stroke, or an accident
• Spine problems relating to traumatic events
• Tumors and diseases of the spine caused by cancer cells that spread from other areas of the body
• Vascular malformations

Get expert spine treatment at AHN

Our spine team offers many nonsurgical options, such as medication, physical therapy, or chiropractic medicine. Learn more about our personalized approach to treating back and neck pain.

If we recommend surgery, you’ll benefit from our neurosurgeons’ expertise in the use of groundbreaking techniques and advanced technologies, including:

• Mazor X™ robotics technology: AHN was the first hospital network in western Pennsylvania to use this leading surgical tool to treat spine conditions. Learn more about Mazor X spine surgery.
• Spinal decompression therapy: Specialized image-guided and robotic technologies result in a more precise surgery and a quicker recovery for patients.
• Intrathecal baclofen therapy: Surgeons implant a programmable pump under the skin, which delivers medication directly to the spinal fluid through a tiny catheter. This therapy may relieve severe spasticity (muscle tightness and stiffness associated with conditions such as cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis).
• Spinal cord stimulation: Surgeons place electrodes over the spinal cord to block chronic pain. This innovative therapy has proven to be an effective pain management tool.

Our spine center team

AHN’s spine team brings together experts from many different fields to give you a high level of care. We work together to evaluate your symptoms and collaborate on the treatment approach that will provide the most relief in the least invasive way. Depending on your symptoms and circumstances, your care team may include:

• Anesthesiologists
• Chiropractors
• Neurology specialists
• Neurosurgeons
• Orthopaedic surgeons
• Pain management specialists
• Physical therapists
• Specialists in internal medicine and physical medicine

Contact us

To schedule an appointment or learn more about services at the AHN Spine Center, call (724) 228-1414 in Pittsburgh or (814) 452-7575 in Erie.

If you're an existing patient, you can also call (412) DOCTORS (412) 362-8677 in Pittsburgh or request an appointment with AHN neuroscience services.