TOPs Procedure

Posted by rstark @rstark, Jan 17 1:08am

Apparently, according to a local spine surgeon with Sutter Health here in Sacramento, California, I’m an excellent candidate for the TOPS procedure as described by Premiaspine. I’m interested in anyone’s experience with the TOPS procedure…

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rstark | @rstark | Aug 28 12:49pm

Hi Kathy. Yes, those are the doctors. I'm actually a patient of Dr. Hong's; not interested in going with Schrott. We have not yet scheduled the TOPS but I remain a good candidate per Hong and my MRI from 6/25. I did hear from his office that he has 2 or 3 procedures scheduled in the near future which would bring his number to between 10-15. I have to put it off as I'm looking at an ACDF and a MTP joint fusion first, and I need to change my insurance during open enrollment next month to ensure I'm covered for TOPS (that's a whole different conversation).

If you go through with it, I'd love to hear about your experience. Likewise, if I get it done first, I'd be happy to correspond. If you're comfortable using ChatGPT it will give you a good side-by-side comparison of TOPS and a TLIF. It's the adjacent segment disease that's unsettling.