Returning to play after a spinal canal tumor?! | Guest: Dr. Ali Baaj, MD скачать в хорошем качестве

Returning to play after a spinal canal tumor?! | Guest: Dr. Ali Baaj, MD

Ok, we are diving into a more rare topic on this episode. SPINAL CORD TUMORS in the athlete! An expert on this topic, Dr. Ali Baaj, MD joins us for this episode. He recently made the move to Northwestern University, where he now serves as a Professor of Neurosurgery as well as the Vice Chair for International Outreach and the Director of Spine Technology, and Fellowship Programs. Diamond DeShields really shined a light on this very topic a few years back. While playing oversees in 2019, Diamond began experiencing some back pain, which led to an MRI of the lumbar spine. That MRI revealed a “grape-sized” tumor severely compressing her spinal cord. After a successful 9-hour surgery, Diamond experienced a wide range of new symptoms for several months, including: painful tremors, muscle spasms, burning in her legs and feet, as well as weakness in the legs. But, she was RELENTLESS! After months of intense rehab and training throughout the pandemic, she was able to make her full return to the WNBA last season! In fact, she was an integral part of the Chicago Sky’s run to the WNBA Championship and had an awesome 2022 season. In this episode, we talk about the more “common” spine “tumors” that we see in our younger athlete population. And yes, most of these are “benign” ... in that this is not a malignant cancer Interestingly — most of these patients that have these findings on an MRI, do not need surgery. But it may need to be removed if it’s causing symptoms or creating pressure on the spinal cord. Pain in the arms/legs Numbness/Tingling Weakness in the arms/legs Difficulties with balance or fine motor task ability Although, the surgery has high risks of nerve-related complications (even paralysis), the goal is to relieve the pressure on the spinal cord and nerves that it is compressing. Yes, these are not all that common, but there is a lot to learn in thinking through concerns of spinal cord compression in athletes! Enjoy! #spinalcord #spinetumor #spinesurgery #diamonddeshields #wnba #spine #spineinjury