NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Regional Healthcare System has a spine and brain surgery specialist. His name is Thomas Frimpong.
"I have fellowship training in minimally invasive spine surgery," Frimpong said. "What that means is that I'm able to do surgery through small incisions, with less blood loss, less pain, less narcotic use and faster recovery, which essentially, which will essentially produce a better outcome, essentially keeping the case cosmetically much nicer for the patient."
Most of the time, Frimpong deals with the effects of aging and overuse of the back.
"By far, the most common is degenerative disease," Frimpong said. "That's wear and tear. Typically, you'll have a bone that is out growing pushing against the nerve or the spinal cord. That ultimately produces symptoms, such as pain, numbness, tingling and weakness and that's what usually leads the patients to come and seek treatment. Normally, we would try to use an operative treatment, such as physical therapy, epidural injections and whatnot. If that doesn't work, we resort to surgery as a last treatment option."
Frimpong's training is extensive.
"A typical neurosurgeon would be in training at least seven years, six or seven years and then, in my case, you do a fellowship," Frimpong said. "That's an extra year and during all that time, you are working on the spine. Your initial years, you are watching, but as you move up the ladder, you end up doing more of the hands on stuff."
Frimpong's expertise includes removal of tumors of the brain and spine and navigation-guided spine fusion, along with placement of spinal stimulators and treatment of scoliosis, in addition to emergency work in cases of traumatic brain and spinal injury.