Neurosurgeon Seyed Ghodsi, MD Achieves Surgical Milestone
When a patient is experiencing debilitating lower back pain, it is often discovered that the source of their discomfort can be linked to a hard-to-diagnose condition known as sacroiliitis, or sacroiliac (SI) joint dysfunction. Located where the lower spine and pelvis meet, sacroiliac joints can sometimes become inflamed, causing pelvic pain and stiffness, pain that may radiate down one or both legs, or pain when standing or sitting for extended periods.
Developed in the early 2000s, SI joint fusion is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that joins together the two bones that make up the sacroiliac joint, ultimately reducing pain and instability by eliminating movement at the joint. Though this procedure is an effective way to help relieve patients with SI joint dysfunction, this cutting-edge technique is still not widely available, meaning that our region is incredibly fortunate to have neurosurgeons with Memorial Health System like Seyed Ghodsi, MD who are not only performing SI joint fusions, but leading the way and teaching the procedure to providers all over the country.
On February 16, 2024, Dr. Ghodsi of Memorial Health System’s Department of Neurosurgery successfully completed his 150th SI joint fusion surgery at Belpre Medical Campus. This incredible surgical milestone is an important marker for the health system, showcasing one of the many innovative procedures taking place within Memorial Health System.
“We are a small health system,” says Dr. Ghodsi, “but here we are one of only a handful of centers in the United States that have done this many SI procedures. We’ve developed a niche for it and are now getting a lot of referrals for it specifically.”
For Dr. Ghodsi though, the most important thing about this achievement is the fact that it means more patients are receiving the procedure, and awareness of SI joint dysfunction is growing.
“We went through many years missing this diagnosis,” Dr. Ghodsi explains. “That’s the most important thing to me about this milestone—all this disease was around before, and we weren’t looking for it, we didn’t realize what it was. Now, we are making more people aware that SI joint dysfunction is a problem and that there are surgical options available here locally.”
