Dear macaonghus-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question.
Believe it or not, what it all ultimately boils down to is your
surgeon’s credentials, training, competence and ability. Traditionally
neurosurgeons are widely associated with the repair of head injuries,
the removal of tumors, repair of nerves and other delicate procedures
but this of course does not describe ALL that they are capable of
doing. "The American Association of Neurological Surgeons" believes
that this is more of an image issue than anything else. In the AANS
BULLETIN (Fall 2000) article by Susan A. Nowicki, APR, entitled “TRUTH
OR CONSEQUENCES: NEUROSURGEONS NEED TO CORRECT THEIR IMAGE OR LOSE
POTENTIAL PATIENTS” media analysis surveys suggested that image was a
leading factor over patient’s decisions to opt for orthopedic surgeon
rather than a neurosurgeon, when neurosurgeons are often just as
competent (or perhaps even more so) in the same procedures. You can
read this extremely interesting article in its entirety here:
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF NEUROLOGICAL SURGEONS
http://www.neurosurgery.org/aans/bulletin/fall00/truthroconseq.html
============================================================
During an interview with WebMD, Edward Benzel, M.D. was approached
with the exact same question:
“When should a person seek a neurosurgeon vs. an orthopedic surgeon?”
As my research also indicated, the doctor said in part, “…neuro and
orthopedic surgeon are thought of the same, in terms of surgery.
Therefore, neurosurgeons intervene surgically and non-surgically in
the disorders that cause backache…Pain that extends into the legs may
be of concern and addressable by a neurosurgeon.”
WEBMD – “OH, MY ACHING BACK! WITH EDWARD BENZEL, M.D.”
http://content.health.msn.com/content/article/1/1700_50285.htm
============================================================
Along this same line comes a discussion on a Harvard thread between
past, present and future patients who are asking one another the same
question you posed here and are relating their experiences and the
reasons for the choices they each made, or plan to make:
ORTHO VS. NEURO SURGEON
http://neuro-www.mgh.harvard.edu/forum_2/SpinalDisordersF/11.3.9910.55PMOrthovs.Neu.html
============================================================
Here you can view an example of what a neurosurgeons and orthopedic
surgeons must do to become specialists in their respective fields.
This is relatively brief but particularly informative in laymen's
terms:
ST JOSEPHS’S HOSPITAL GUIDE TO MEDICAL SPECIALITIES
http://www.sjo.org/FindaPhysician/specialties.htm
NEUROSURGEONS
“Neurosurgeons diagnose, evaluate and treat disorders of the brain and
nervous system, such as aneurysms, head and spinal cord trauma, and
brain and spinal cord cancers. To become a neurosurgeon, medical
school graduates must complete one year of training in a general
surgery residency program and five years of training in a neurological
surgery residency program.”
ORTHOPEDIC SURGEONS
“Orthopedic surgeons diagnose and treat disorders that impair
movement, such as arthritis, fractures, lower back pain, joint
degeneration, and shoulder, hip and knee injuries. To become an
orthopedic surgeon, medical school graduates must complete one year of
training in a general medical specialty residency, such as general
surgery, internal medicine or pediatrics, followed by four years of
training in an orthopedic surgery residency.”
============================================================
Here is another explanation of the differences between the two
specialists. As you can see, the general consensus is that a
neurosurgeon’s training if often measurably more focused on difficult
and delicate cases of a certain variety, and implies that he/she also
has the quite capability of doing most orthopedic work as well:
NEUROSURGERY/ON CALL
http://www.neurosurgery.org/health/patient/askaneuro.asp?disorderID=28
(Pay particular attention to question #5: “What's the difference
between an Orthopedic Surgeon and Neurosurgeon in treating Lumbar
Stenosis?”)
============================================================
So you see, from these collectively we can gather that these two
specialists are much the same but if a difference must be pointed out
a neurosurgeon is perhaps more skilled in and focused on some
conditions, but usually quite capable in mainstream surgery as well.
That is to say, he/she is trained to diagnose and treat illnesses,
injuries and conditions of, and well BEYOND those that are considered
normal general anomalies that occur naturally in the human body or are
more common occurrences as a result of age, accident or mainstream
illness. Orthopedic surgeons on the other hand are primarily focused
on (and certainly very skilled at) diagnosing and treating these very
conditions but they aren’t normally the leaders in these fields when
it comes to the treatment of problematic issues that arise in
specialized areas such as the brain, spine or major arteries. On the
other hand, since they practice these more “common” cases much more
often, it makes perfect sense that they probably have a great deal
more hands-on experience (or at least more recent expeirence) with
these "common" cases than a neurosurgeon does; so the trade-off here
is relative depending on what your condition might be.
This of course is not meant in any way to take anything away from
either of these medical geniuses – and let’s face it, that’s what they
really are – because both of them are well-trained experts who devote
their lives to repairing some of the most difficult cases in medical
science and they excelled in the best training the world has to offer
in order to get to their positions. At the same time, both of these
highly skilled surgeons’ repertoires definitely overlap in terms of
what they can BOTH do efficiently, effectively and competently. Disk
replacement may very well be one of these areas (and it probably is),
but of course you have no way of knowing unless you (A) get a full
diagnosis (B) settle on a medical course of action, and (C) know your
selected or potential surgeon’s individual capabilities.
What you will have to decide (among other more obvious things such as
cost, availability, insurance requirements, etc) is what the “image”
of a neurosurgeon and orthopedic surgeon is in YOUR mind and
comfortable YOU feel with the choice you must make. As you alluded to
in your question, we would be negligent here by referring you to one
specialist or the other simply because we do not know your situation
and each case differs greatly. Even then, medical advice is not
something we practice here. Logic of course prevails and it goes
without saying that your paramount concern should be how well each of
the specialists you have to choose from practice their craft and the
probability that the surgeon you do ultimately select can get you on
the road to recovery.
Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy
for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By
following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to
enhance the research I have provided even further. I hope you find
that that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any
questions about my research please post a clarification request prior
to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating and your final
comments and I look forward to working with you again in the near
future. I wish you well. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga
INFORMATION SOURCES
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF NEUROLOGICAL SURGEONS
http://www.neurosurgery.org/aans/bulletin/fall00/truthroconseq.html
WEBMD – “OH, MY ACHING BACK! WITH EDWARD BENZEL, M.D.”
http://content.health.msn.com/content/article/1/1700_50285.htm
ORTHO VS. NEURO SURGEON
http://neuro-www.mgh.harvard.edu/forum_2/SpinalDisordersF/11.3.9910.55PMOrthovs.Neu.html
ST JOSEPHS’S HOSPITAL GUIDE TO MEDICAL SPECIALITIES
http://www.sjo.org/FindaPhysician/specialties.htm
NEUROSURGERY/ON CALL
http://www.neurosurgery.org/health/patient/askaneuro.asp?disorderID=28
BACK RELIEF
http://www.backrelief.com/prevention/neck_surgery.html
WEBMD
“THE DOCTOR IS IN: DEALING WITH BACK AND NECK PAIN”
http://my.webmd.com/content/article/2/1700_51472.htm
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
NEUROSURGEON VERSUS ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON
NEUROSURGEON VS ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON
ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON VERSUS NEUROSURGEON
ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON VS NEUROSURGEON
NEUROSURGEON “AS OPPOSED TO” ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON
NEUROSURGEON “RATHER THAN” ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON
NEUROSURGEON OR ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON
"DIFFERENCE BETWEEN" NEUROSURGEON "ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON"
Alternatively used the search terms “neuro surgeon”, “neuro-surgeon”
and “neurology”, “neurologist”, “ortho surgeon” and “orthopedist” |
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