Ernest E Braxton MD, MBA, FAANS

Dr. Ernest Braxton performs 'awake' spinal fusion at Colorado hospital beckersspine.com/spine/item/461…

Just heard an interesting talk at the Spine Thinktank in Cabo given by Stephen Ryu. What science says you need to be happy: 1. Have something you love to do. 2. Have someone to love. 3. Have someone who loves you. Who agrees? lnkd.in/g4bzgzSS

This happy patient underwent an awake endoscopic microdiscectomy. The patient's don't actually seem care about the size of the incision but they love the quick recovery. *Photo used with written consent from the patient. Learn more about minimally in…lnkd.in/gX6tsD4c

Bertolotti's syndrome is an often unrecognized cause of low back pain. This patient is a young female that presented with right paraspinal pain. After failing conservative mangement, we performed an outpatient awake procedure to resect the anomalous tra…lnkd.in/gVJHDJ67

Challenging cases sometimes call for novel solutions. This patient is a 57 year old male with a degenerative flat back in the setting of previous fusion at L3-4 from another surgeon. Rather than revise and remove the posterior pedicle screws at L3-4, we…lnkd.in/gV5PSk7K

This is an interesting application of awake spine surgery. The patient (photo used with permission) is a 72 year old female with COPD and asthma. Because of long COVID she has put off corrective spine surgery. She was told by her pulmonologist that gen…lnkd.in/gjJxP2jv

Please check out this article from my colleague and friend @abdelbarrspine Awake spine fusion is associated with reduced hospital length of stay (LOS), reduced opioid utilization, and faster recovery. At Vail-Summit Orthopaedic…lnkd.in/gJJePQfd lnkd.in/gcfyvzkr

Ren Tanaka thanks for your comments. We are doing our best to offer patients the least invasive solutions. lnkd.in/g-93ZhNF

At Vail-Summit Orthopaedics & Neurosurgery we believe that outpatient awake endoscopic TLIF is a great option for patients with painful spinal instability. Our patient went home the same day from our ASC with minimal discomfort thanks to his anestheti…lnkd.in/g2wPadv6

Awake endoscopic microsdisectomy is a challenging procedure but can potentially save your patient from a fusion. This patient is a 46 year old male with isthmic spondylisthesis at L5-S1. He presented with intractable leg pain and a foot drop. He came…lnkd.in/gTENP4cw

Are you a spine surgeon new to a surgery center environment? Are you considering taking spine surgery cases to an ambulatory surgery center? If so, join us for the SMISS practice management webinar, Nuances of Spine Surgery in the ASC, and hear tips from…lnkd.in/gEavcVRW

At Vail-Summit Orthopaedics & Neurosurgery we believe that full endoscopic TLIF allows the surgeon to verify disk preparation and safe passage of the fusion device to minimize the risk to neural structures. For these cases, expandable cages are a must…lnkd.in/gi897p23

Practice makes perfect. We spent another weekend in the lab working on improving our endoscopic and minimally invasive spine surgery techniques. It is a part of my profession that I really enjoy. Its a low stress environment with great interactions wi…lnkd.in/gK8VyRuv

I like to spend my weekends understanding and developing new technology for my patients. One of my favorite though leaders is @abdelbarrspine (pictured next to me). We are working on the next generation of Ultra Minimally Invasive spine surgery. Spe…lnkd.in/gMcBC8FF

I like to spend my weekends understanding and developing new technology for my patients. One of my favorite though leaders is @abdelbarrspine (pictured next to me). We are working on the next generation of Ultra Minimally Invasive spine surgery. Spe…lnkd.in/gWqUg2t9

ProPublica has recently published what many physicians have suspected. Some insurance claims are being rejected without even being evaluated. We need to reform the prior authorization system. Please donate your specialtites' PAC or your local represent…lnkd.in/ghgXGT8u

I hope you can check out our Keynote Panel - Threats and Opportunities on the Horizon in Spine at Becker's June 15-17 2023 Vail-Summit Orthopaedics & Neurosurgery lnkd.in/gjNYJ3bZ

We are honred to have been selected as of the sites for this year's Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (SMISS) Traveling Fellowship. Please apply for should be an amazing experience. Vail-Summit Orthopaedics & Neurosurgery Vail Health lnkd.in/gp86BBdS

We prefer awake spine surgery because of our high altitude environment at Vail-Summit Orthopaedics & Neurosurgery. Less hypoxia and we avoid the risks of general anesthesia. This patient underwent a successful microdiscectomy with relief of pain durin…lnkd.in/gA_k86FG

Another great meeting from SRS IMAST in Dublin. #SRSIMAST23 lnkd.in/ggq53KiQ

Very interesting article about how social media and mobile app can improve healthcare lnkd.in/gDzJm_Hm