Patient Info

Visiting Information

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Parking Ample patient parking is available outside the Birth Care Building or underneath on basement level one with lift access.
What to wear Most new patients will undergo an examination which exposes the back and lower extremities. You will be provided with a gown which opens at the back - please wear suitable under clothing.
What to bring Referral letter, X-rays, Scans. Friend or family member to interpret
New Patient Referrals You will be asked to complete a spinal questionnaire.
Your appointment will usually takes 30 minutes and includes a spinal examination.
A letter is sent to your General Practitioner or Referrer.

Conditions Commonly Treated

  • Neck and arm pain/tingling due to spinal nerve or spinal cord compression
  • Spinal curvature (scoliosis, kyphosis).
  • Low back pain and leg pain/tingling (sciatica) due to spinal nerve compression.
  • Disc Protrusion.
  • Spinal Stenosis (spinal canal narrowing).
  • Spondylolisthesis (slippage of the spine).
  • Low back pain requiring surgical treatment.

Operations Commonly Performed

  • Anterior Cervical Decompression & Fusion.
  • Cervical Laminoplasty.
  • Correction & Fusion of Scoliosis & Kyphosis.
  • Lumbar Micro Discectomy.
  • Decompression of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis, with or without fusion.
  • Anterior or Posterior (Posterolateral, interbody cage fusion for spondylolisthesis or severe low back pain.

Imaging Tests

MRI SCAN

  • Uses magnetism to construct a detailed image of the spine.
  • Shows soft tissue detail of spinal cord, spinal nerves and Inter vertebral discs
  • You will lie in a "tube" open at each end
  • Some patients find this noisy and claustrophobic - sedation can be given
  • It cannot be performed for patients with Pacemaker or Metal Fragments in Eyes
  • Can be performed safely and effectively when metal implants present, especially titanium
  • For more information on MRI Scans, visit Trinity MRI

CT SCAN (CAT SCAN)

  • Uses radiation to construct a detailed image of the spine
  • Shows better bone detail but inferior soft tissue detail compared with MRI
  • New generation scans are rapid and have acceptably low radiation dose
  • Safe in presence of Pacemaker
  • Less enclosed and quicker than MRI

BONE SCANS

  • An acceptably low dose of radiation is given by injection into an arm vein, circulates in the blood stream and is taken up in the skeleton and later passed out of the body in the urine
  • More sensitive than X-rays for detection of fractures, stress fractures, infection or tumour (cancer)