Dr. Abraham A. Cherrick Collaborates on Innovative Hybrid Procedure

National Spine & Pain Centers (NSPC)’ Dr. Abraham A. Cherrick was part of a multidisciplinary collaboration to successfully treat a patient with an abdominal aortic aneurysm that was causing significant lower back pain.

A previous open surgery to treat the aneurysm did not resolve the pain. But the patient’s other serious medical conditions put him at high-risk for more surgery. He also indicated he did not want to undergo another major operation just a few weeks after his first one.

As a result, Dr. Cherrick and two neurosurgeons, a vascular surgeon and an interventional radiologist from George Washington University Hospital employed a hybrid of surgical and endovascular techniques to eradicate the pain. Using fluoroscopic guidance to locate the exact spot where the weakened, ballooning blood vessel (aneurysm) was pressing on nearby lumbar nerves, a special catheter equipped with a stent was inserted through the groin and fed into the weakened blood vessel to stabilize it and reduce the swelling and alleviate pressure on the nerves.

The outcome was excellent: the patient experienced complete pain relief following the procedure and did not have the lengthy recovery time and hospitalization that follows a traditional open surgery. The innovative case has been highlighted in the professional journal World Neurosurgery.