Nasa Spine Surgeons

Background

Dr. Garges graduated from Tulane University School of Medicine with honors and is an elected member of Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society. Subsequently, he completed a general surgery internship at Ochsner Hospital in New Orleans, an orthopedic surgery residency at the University of Maryland/Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, where he served as Chief Resident in Orthopaedic Traumatology, and then a spine surgery fellowship at the San Francisco Spine Institute. In 1999, Dr. Garges joined the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston as full-time faculty.
 
At U.T.M.B., he served as an associate professor, chief of spinal surgery, and director of a nationally and internationally recognized spine surgery program. During this time, he trained spinal surgeons from the United States, Jordan, Iran, the Czech Republic, and Great Britain. He also directed a nationally accredited spinal surgery fellowship. Dr. Garges was on the faculty in both orthopedic surgery and neurosurgery, training surgery residents and fellows, and developing a busy clinical spinal surgery practice. He authored numerous publications on cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spinal diseases, received research grants for the development and trial of innovative procedures in spinal surgery, and presented his research at local, state, and national surgical meetings.
 
Since September 2008, Dr. Garges has been in private practice in Nassau Bay and Webster, Texas. He remains as Clinical Assistant Professor at UTMB. Dr. Garges is board certified and a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the North American Spine Society, state and local medical and orthopedic associations. He is a past board member of the Association for Ethics in Spine Surgery, an appointed member of the North American Spine Society Committee on Complementary Medicine, and an expert for Best Doctors InterConsultation.
 
Dr. Garges' interests include safety in spine surgery, and his research, such as "A Safe Approach to Explore/identify the V2 Segment of the Vertebral Artery during Anterior Approaches to Cervical Spine and/or arterial repairs: Anatomical Study," was published in the Journal of Neurosurgery; “The prevalence of wrong level surgery among spine surgeons” published in Spine; “An unusual course of the vertebral artery posterior to the nerve root in the inter-transverse space: a cadaveric study” published in Patient Safety in Surgery. Other research activities focus on proper spinal biomechanics for protecting the spine and preventing and treating injuries.
 
Before attending medical school, Dr. Garges received a Doctor of Chiropractic degree with honors and was on the faculty at the Los Angeles College of Chiropractic. His background in chiropractic, coupled with studying, practicing, and teaching spinal biomechanics, provides him with unique insight into the function and dysfunction of the spine. This insight is particularly valuable when considering spinal fusion surgery. Carefully choosing the correct surgery, as well as pre- and post-care, is crucial for the longevity of the spine. Physical therapy is almost always a critical part of pre- and post-surgical care, and teaching patients’ correct spinal mechanics can often prevent surgery immediately and in the future. For those patients’ who have visited spinal surgeons in the past and were told there condition is too advanced or not amenable to surgical correction, or who have had spinal surgery but continue with pain Dr. Garges developed the program, “Next Step Spine Care” which uses more exhaustive diagnostic measures to identify and then treat these difficult conditions. Early in Dr. Garges’s surgical career microsurgical techniques and instruments for performing these surgeries were being developed. One of the systems is a tubular retractor for minimally invasive lumbar discectomy and decompression. Dr.Garges modified the original design to gain better access to the surgical site. That system is being used today in many minimally invasive spinal surgical procedures.

POST-M.D. GRADUATE TRAINING:

Publications
Nourbakhsh A, Yang J, Gallagher S, Nanda A, Vannemreddy P, Garges K. A Safe Approach to Explore/identify the V2 Segment of the Vertebral Artery during Anterior Approaches to Cervical Spine and/or arterial repairs: Anatomical Study. J Neurosurg Spine. 12:25-32, 2010.
 
Nourbakhsh A, Garges KJ. Spondylodiscitis After Vertebral Fracture in the Thoracic Spine. Am J Orthop. October, 2009;38(10):E166-E169
 
Nourbakhsh A, Chaljub G, Garges KJ. Spontaneous Cervical Epidural Hematoma Masquerading as an Abscess on MRI Scan. J Manipulative Physiol Ther.; 2009 June; Vol. 32, Issue 5: 391-5.
 
Garges KJ, Nourbakhsh A, Morris randy, Yang Jinping, Moody M, Paterson R. A comparison of torsional stiffness of the lumbar spine in flexion and extension. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2008 Oct;31(8):563-9.
 
Nourbakhsh A, Grady JJ, Garges KJ. Percutaneous spine biopsy: A meta-analysis. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2008; 90: 1722-1725. Cited in PubMed; PMID: 18676903.
 
Nourbakhsh A, Ahmed HA, McAuliffe TB, Garges KJ. Case Report: bilateral slipped capital femoral epiphysis, and Hormone replacement. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2008 Mar;466(3):743-8. Epub 2008 Feb 10. Cited in PubMed; PMID: 18264862.
 
Nourbakhsh A, Von Ritschel R, Garges KJ. Bilateral Isthmic L3 Spondylolysis in an Adult Female. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2008 Feb;31(2):160-3. Cited in PubMed; PMID: 18328942.
 
Mody MG, Nourbakhsh A, Stahl DL, Gibbs M, Alfawareh M, Garges KJ.. The prevalence of wrong level surgery among spine surgeons. Spine. 2008 Jan; 33(2): 194-8. Cited in PubMed; PMID: 18197106.
 
Nourbakhsh A., Garges K.J.; Lumbar Synovial Joint Hematoma in a Patient on Anticoagulation Treatment. Spine. Vol. 32, Number 9, pp E300-E302, 2007. Cited in PubMed; PMID: 17450063.
 
Nourbakhsh A, Garges KJ.. Esophageal perforation with a locking screw: a case report and review of the literature. Spine. 2007 Jul; 32(15): E428-35. Cited in PubMed; PMID: 17621200.
 
Catherine Shin, Ali Nourbakhsh, Efe Ozkan, Kim J. Garges; Asymptomatic Osseous Loose Body in the Cervical Spine: A Case Report. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2007;89:1586-88. Cited in PubMed; PMID: 17606798.
 
Schofferman, J., Garges, K., Goldthwaite, N., Koestler, M., Libby, E.; Upper Cervical Anterior Diskectomy and Fusion Improves Discogenic Cervical Headaches. Spine. Vol. 27(20): 2240-2244, October 15, 2002.
 
Muffoletto, A., Simmons, W., Yang, J., Garges, K., Vadhva, M., Hadjipavlou, A.; Cervical Stability with Lateral Mass Plating: Unicortical versus Bicortical Screw Purchase. The Spine Journal. Vol. 2, Issue 5, Supplement 1, September-October 2002, Page 110
 
Muffoletto, A.J., Nader R., Westmark R.M., Nauta H.J.W., Garges K.J., Hadjipavlou A.G.; Hematogenous pyogenic facet joint infections of the subaxial cervical spine - A report of two cases and review of the literature. [Review]. Journal of Neurosurgery. 95(1 Suppl S):135-138, 2001 July.
 
Garges, K.J., White, A.H., Koestler, M.; 2000 Diagnostic and Management Techniques for the Difficult Cervical Spine Patient. Donald R. Murphy, ed. Conservative Management of Cervical Spine Syndromes. McGraw-Hill, New York, New York.
 
Garges, K.J., White, A.H. and Scott, J.: Acute Lumbar Spine Problems in the Competitive Adult Athlete. Sport Specific: Baseball, Football and Swimming. Sports Medicine and Arthroscopy Review. Vol. 5, No. 3; October 1997.

Research
"The incidence of wrong level surgery among spine surgeons."
 
"Comparison of Various Musculoskeletal Exercises and/or Movements Using Surface Electromyography"
 
"Changes in carotid and vertebral artery hemodynamics during anterior cervical fusion."
 
"A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Multicenter Phase 3 Study to Evaluate the Long-term Safety of Alvimopan 0.5mg Twice Daily for 12 Months for the Treatment of Opoid-Induced Bowel Dysfunction in Adults taking Opoid Therapy for Persistant Non-Cancer Pain."
 
"In vitro biomechanical analysis of the IVBF Dual-Blade Plate: An anterior spinal fixation device."
 
"A Randomized, Prospective, Multi- Center Clinical Trial to Assess the Safety and Effectiveness of the SPF-100 Implantable Spinal Fusion Stimulator for the Treatment of Degenerative Disc Disease (SPF-100 plus Allograft versus Autograft Only)"
 
"The Affect of Lumbar Lordosis on Stability and Injury."
 
"An open-label, randomized, parallel-group study to confirm the safety and efficacy of PROCRIT (Epoetin Alfa) administered perioperatively vs. the standard of care in blood conservation in subjects undergoing major elective spinal surgery".
 
A Comparative Analysis of Extrinsic Abdominal Muscle Activity During Exercise.
 
Meta-Analysis of Thoracolumbar Burst Fractures
 
"A Comparative Analysis of Extrinsic Abdominal Muscle Activity During Exercise Using Surface Electromyography."
 
The Affect of Relative Lumbar Lordosis on Dynamic Torsional Stability in the Lumbar Spine.
 
Cervical Instability with Lateral Mass Plating: Unicortical versus Bicortical Screw Purchase
 
C2-3, C3-4 Cervical Discectomy and Fusion for Cervicogenic Headaches and Neck Pain.
 
Treatment of Isthmic Spondylolisthesis by Anterior Interbody Fusion with Fibular Dowel Grafts
 
"Comparison of abdominal EMG activity with the supine stability ball crunch, the ABench crunch machine, and traditional floor exercises."
 
"EMG Comparison of Various Exercises on Muscular Activity."
 
"Spontaneous Epidural Hematoma in the Cervical Spine. A Case Report."
 
"Comparison of Lumbar Hyperextension and Squat Exercises Using Surface Electromyography: An Insight into Low Back Pain Rehabilitation/Prevention."
 
The Effect of Lordosis on Lumbar Motion Segment Stability
 
Simulation of the Spine - Extrapolation of Function from the 3D Form of Structures Derived from the Visible Human CT Data Base.
 

About Us

• Background - Dr. Garges
• Background - Dr. Santos
• Staff