Shreveport neurosurgeon performs first-ever awake dual approach spinal fusion surgery

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - A doctor in Shreveport has performed a groundbreaking new surgery for the first time ever in the world.

Dr. Stanley Hoang with Ochsner LSU Health recently completed the first-ever awake dual approach spinal fusion surgery. Using a combination of lateral and posterior techniques, Dr. Hoang was able to cut the time of the surgery in half. What used to be a six-hour procedure can now be done in three.

“This surgery is five years in the making. We try to perfect each stage of the procedure separately and then we combine them together. Someone first started doing the second surgery on the side and two stages like what most people do. So I do from the side and then I have them lay on their back and do back part; that takes six hours. But then I switched to doing them on position where they lay on their belly only. I perfected that technique after a couple years and the second part, I was doing was an awake surgery, so I started doing smaller surgery awake first. And then I perfected that part of the procedure, so two different innovations after I perfected each part. I combine them together at this stage,” said Dr. Hoang.

This new technique has been published in the Journal of Neurosurgery.

The patient was awake during the surgery because they were not a suitable candidate for general anesthesia due to a pre-existing heart condition.

“Combining two new innovations in one setting is a good thing, so they were very excited that we were able to do this under three hours safely with a person awake like this,” said Dr. Hoang.

This new technique has already gotten international attention. Dr. Hoang recently presented this new surgical approach at the Virtual Global Spine Conference, where surgeons praised the innovation. One Swiss surgeon called it “an avalanche of valuable tips and tricks,” noting the method’s clarity.

DR. HOANG’S BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Stanley Hoang is a board-certified neurosurgeon who specializes in advanced minimally invasive, robotic, and complex spinal surgery. He is an Assistant Professor in the Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport Department of Neurosurgery. He treats a number of conditions, including spinal degenerative and traumatic diseases, adult scoliosis and deformities, spinal oncology, and complex primary and revision spinal procedures. He is dedicated to applying the latest image-guided surgical navigation, robotic technologies, and minimally invasive techniques to improve outcomes and accelerate recovery.

His goal is to combine compassionate, patient-focused care with multidisciplinary, state-of-the-art, evidence-based medicine to provide patients with insight and knowledge to make informed decisions. Treatment recommendations are tailored to specific patient needs, goals, medical condition, social factors, personal wishes, and include both conservative and surgical interventions.

Dr. Hoang is also the Chief of Neurosurgery at Overton Brooks VA Medical Center where he provides care to our veterans. Dr. Hoang completed his undergraduate studies at Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts in Human Biology and a Master of Science in Biological Sciences. He then completed his medical degree at Stanford University School of Medicine.

During medical school, he was awarded the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Fellowship. Dr. Hoang then completed his neurosurgery residency at the University of Missouri and a complex spine fellowship at the University of Cincinnati. He has published numerous peer-reviewed research articles and book chapters and presented at different national meetings. He has been a recipient of the National Institute of Health (NIH) research funding, Stanford Biodesign, NIH Spectrum Medtech Grant, and a cerebrovascular research award from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS).

His current research interest is developing regenerative strategies to optimize neurological function and quality of life for patients with degenerative and traumatic spinal cord diseases. He is the Director of Spinal Research and Director of Advanced Spinal Technologies at Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport. Dr. Hoang is proud to be a part of the Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport Neurosurgery Department. He and his team will make all efforts to always be available, attentive, and to treat all our patients with dignity, respect, and empathy. He is humbled to serve our community and feels most privileged to be part of our patient care.

For patient referrals to Dr. Hoang, please fax to 318-629-4841 or call 318-626-0203.

“As people get older, there’s a lot of needs for spine surgery, but people get more sick as they get older, so they can have issues with their heart, their lungs, and if they’re too sick, they cannot tolerate anesthesia very well, so we’re hoping by opening this procedure, we can perform more compact surgery for people who have more medical issues that cannot tolerate anesthesia very well. We cut the surgery in half. They’re under anesthesia for much less time so they can recover quickly and they can go home much earlier,” said Dr. Hoang.

Dr. Hoang and his team members are now working to refine the technique further and create protocols other surgeons can use.