Dr. Jeffrey Oppenheimer on Spinal Manipulation

As with other interventions, there are risks involved in spinal manipulation. Potential side effects include vertebrobasilar accidents or VBA, strokes, death, spinal disc herniation, vertebral and rib fractures and cauda equine syndrome. It is therefore important that the neurosurgeon who will do the procedure is an expert on utilizing spinal manipulation like Dr. Jeffrey Oppenheimer.

In his article entitled “Nonvascular Complications Following Spinal Manipulation” which was published on The Spine Journal, Dr. Jeffrey Oppenheimer wrote that spinal manipulation is associated with various vascular and nonvascular complications, but most prior studies had focused on the vascular complications. The purpose of his study was to better clarify the spectrum of nonvascular complications following spinal manipulation, and to help define the risks of manipulative treatment. Dr. Oppenheimer concluded in his report that spinal manipulation can be associated with significant complications, which oftentimes require surgical intervention. Pretreatment scanning can help identify patients with significant risk factors such as disc herniations or occult malignancies. Prompt evaluation is therefore necessary when symptoms worsen or when neurological deficits developed. Dr. Jeffrey Oppenheimer is unrelenting in his quest to find solutions to various neurological disorders. Aside from advocating less invasive procedures, he finds ways to alleviate the pain and suffering of his patients. Through his researches and publications, new techniques and procedures were developed. Because of his compassionate care for his patients, he became the recipient for last year’s Compassionate Doctor Recognition as well as other awards.