Department of Adult and Pediatric Spinal Surgery - ATOS Clinic Heidelberg

About the Department of Adult and Pediatric Spinal Surgery at ATOS Clinic Heidelberg

According to the Focus magazine, the Department of Adult and Pediatric Spinal Surgery at the ATOS Clinic Heidelberg ranks among the best medical facilities in Germany in its area of specialization. The department provides the full range of conservative and surgical treatments for spinal diseases. The department admits patients of all ages, including young children. The medical facility is deservedly proud of its successful experience in the treatment of cervical, thoracic, and lumbar disc herniations. The department's specialists also regularly treat patients with spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, spinal fractures, facet joint syndrome, scoliosis, and other pathologies. The therapeutic offer includes all the possibilities of modern medicine in spinal surgery, ranging from complex conservative treatment with the use of medications, physiotherapy, and exercise therapy to spinal blocks and surgical procedures of any complexity. Spinal surgery is performed using microsurgical, endoscopic, and minimally invasive techniques. The effectiveness of these surgical procedures is comparable to the results of open operations, but they also provide a high level of safety and promote rapid recovery in the postoperative period. The department has modern computer systems for planning spinal surgeries, which also contributes to the best outcomes of surgical treatment.

The Head Physician of the department is Dr. med. Bernd Wiedenhöfer. He has been ranked among the best spinal surgeons in Germany for several years in a row by the renowned Focus magazine. Dr. Wiedenhöfer has more than 25 years of successful clinical practice. He brilliantly performs spinal surgeries on adults and children and uses sparing surgical techniques. He is a member of the German Spine Society (DWG), the German Society for Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery (DGOU), and other professional societies where there is a continuous exchange of experience between spinal surgeons in Germany and doctors from abroad.

The key area of ​​the department's clinical practice is the treatment of herniated discs in all parts of the spine. Lumbar disc herniations are the most common. Due to this pathology, a part of the intervertebral disc is displaced, which causes pain in the lumbar region with irradiation to the lower extremities and limited mobility. At the stage of diagnosis for an intervertebral disc herniation, the department's specialists study the patient's medical history and perform X-ray scanning and magnetic resonance imaging. In some cases, it may also be necessary to perform a nerve conduction velocity test. Once the diagnosis is confirmed, an individualized treatment regimen is selected for the patient. Lumbar disc herniations respond well to conservative therapy. In most cases, a personalized conservative treatment regimen is developed for the patient, which may include drug therapy, therapeutic exercises, physiotherapy, manual therapy, cryotherapy, heat therapy, and laser therapy. If necessary, the department's physicians also perform image-guided spinal blocks, in which a special thin needle is used to inject an anesthetic directly into the pathological focus in the spine under CT guidance. The procedure provides long-term pain relief and can be repeated. The last-line treatment for lumbar disc herniation is surgery. The surgical procedure is performed using minimally invasive techniques through a 2-3 cm incision. Immediately after the surgery, patients are back on their feet and the pain disappears completely.

The department has also gained impressive experience in treating spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the physiological lumens of the vertebrae that causes compression of the spinal cord and spinal nerves. Stenosis mostly develops in the lumbar or cervical spine. Lumbar spinal stenosis causes severe back pain, there is a decrease in sensitivity of the lower extremities, and it is difficult for a person to walk. In cases of cervical spinal stenosis, in addition to the above symptoms, fine motor skills are impaired. The most informative diagnostic methods for suspected spinal stenosis are X-ray scans and MRI scans. Conservative treatment can only be helpful in the early stages. The department's doctors prescribe physiotherapy, heat therapy, manual lymphatic drainage, and other treatments. In the advanced stages of spinal stenosis, the only effective treatment is surgery. The department's spinal surgeons perform minimally invasive interventions for stenosis, so postoperative recovery is quick and the risks of complications are virtually eliminated. If there are indications for surgery, the department's specialists recommend not delaying it because otherwise there is a high risk of developing an irreversible neurological deficit.

The department has a reputation as one of the best medical facilities in Germany for the treatment of scoliosis in adults and children. Scoliosis is a lateral curvature of the spine. In children, scoliosis is a purely aesthetic problem because young patients with this diagnosis mostly do not suffer from back pain or other symptoms. In adults, this spinal deformity causes pain and may lead to impaired function of the lungs, heart, stomach, intestines, and kidneys. Treatment is prescribed after a comprehensive diagnosis. The type of scoliosis, its stage, and the patient's age are taken into account when planning treatment. In the case of minor spinal curvatures, the doctors of the department use only conservative measures, such as individually developed physiotherapeutic treatment, correction with a special corset, and drug therapy for pain relief. 3-4 grade scoliosis requires surgery. Otherwise, the deformation can provoke bone marrow damage, which threatens the development of a neurological deficit. In addition, compression may potentially cause lung and heart dysfunction. During the operation, the department's spinal surgeons implant special screw systems to fix the vertebrae in the desired position, thus eliminating the curvature of the spine. The department performs surgical procedures for scoliosis using sparing minimally invasive techniques under the guidance of intraoperative neuromonitoring systems.

The department's range of medical services includes the following:

• Conservative and surgical treatment of cervical, thoracic, and lumbar disc herniations
• Conservative and surgical treatment of spinal stenosis
• Conservative and surgical treatment of scoliosis in adults and children
• Conservative and surgical treatment of kyphosis in adults and children
• Conservative and surgical treatment of spondylolisthesis
• Conservative and surgical treatment of spinal fractures
• Conservative and surgical treatment of facet joint syndrome
• Conservative and surgical treatment of other spinal diseases