If you are suffering from pain or a spinal injury, our doctors provide the following treatments and procedures in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Dr. Parchuri and Dr. Sparks will tailor a treatment plan that is designed to fit your goals and help you get back your life. All non-surgical treatment options will be exhausted prior to consideration of more invasive procedures. We are here to help, please give us a call at 918-286-3124 today.


Non-Surgical Options

The initial modification is rest, then slowly increasing activity with proper lifting mechanics, including bending at the knees and not bending the back.

Medications can be a good short-term treatment for spinal problems. Here is a list of the most commonly used medications to treat back problems:

  1. NSAIDs – Advil, ibuprofen, Tylenol, Celebrex. These medications work well for mild pain and arthritis. However, medications can cause stomach ulcers, kidney disease, bleeding, heart disease and liver disease.
  2. Steroids – These medications work well for pinched nerves, which can cause arm or leg pain. However, these medications are typically used only for a few days. If taken in large doses and for long periods, steroids can cause infections, hair loss, weight gain, ulcers and osteoporosis (soft bones).
  3. Narcotics – pain pills, Lortab, Darvocet, hydrocodone. These medications take the edge off of pain. Typically, narcotics are used for severe pain and only for a few weeks. These medications are addictive, nauseating and sedative.
  4. Muscle relaxants – Robaxin, Flexeril, Valium, Soma. These medications are used for back spasms and back pain. Muscle relaxants are typically used for only a few weeks. These medications are addictive and sedative.
  5. Pain modifiers – Lyrica, Neurontin. These medications help chronic pain and work well on leg and foot pain, especially with neuropathy. Lyrica and Neurontin do not help all patients and can be sedative.

Physical therapy can often be beneficial. The goals should be to improve flexibility, muscular strength, and endurance.

Spinal bracing/support is sometimes used for a short period of time to help an individual develop appropriate body mechanics by limiting potentially harmful movements. Spinal bracing is also used after certain operations to aid in rehabilitation.

These injections can be performed under an X-ray. The procedure involves numbing the skin and then injecting the spine with steroids to calm down the inflammation in a specific area of the spine. It typically works well for arm and leg pain, but can only be utilized about three times a year.

People who smoke have a higher incidence of neck and back pain due to a decreased blood supply to the spine, leading to early aging of the spine.

Losing weight can drastically take the strain off the back. If you gain 10 lbs., your back feels an additional 70 lbs. If you lose 10 lbs., your spine feels 70 lbs. less.

Surgical Options

This procedure is performed when a patient has a pinched nerve in the neck. It begins with an incision in the front part of the neck. Using a microscope and minimally invasive techniques, the surgeon first removes the pressure on the spine and nerves, then fuses the bones together.  Patients frequently go home the same day or next morning and return to work in 10-14 days.

This procedure, which requires an approach from the front of the abdomen, is the most reliable way to obtain a fusion in the lumbar spine due to the large bone graft being utilized. In many cases, we can eliminate having to make an incision on the back, as well.

This procedure approaches the spine from the front. It removes a damaged vertebra, replaces it and stabilizes the spine. This can remove painful pressure on the spinal cord and nerves due to a fractured vertebra caused by a tumor that has spread to the front of the spine.

This procedure is performed from the back of the neck. It requires removing the spinous process and lamina from a vertebra to eliminate pressure on the spinal cord. Small screws and rods are often used to hold the spine in position and enable fusion to occur.

This procedure is for a pinched nerve not requiring a fusion. Using minimally invasive techniques, the surgeon frees the nerves from being pinched. Sometimes this procedure can be done without general anesthesia. Patients often can go home the evening of surgery.

Artificial disc replacement surgery involves replacing a painful disc with an artificial disc. Artificial disc surgery may be performed on the lower back (lumbar spine) or the neck (cervical spine). Artificial discs are designed with the goal of mimicking the form and function of the spine’s natural disc.


Kyphoplasty is a procedure designed to stabilize fractures. At the time of surgery, patients are given intravenous sedation and local anesthesia. Then, a needle is inserted into the bone and guided by X-ray to the fracture. A small balloon is then inserted into the bone, inflated to make room for the cement, then deflated and removed. The cement is carefully inserted through the needle into the bone under X-ray guidance. Once the cement sets up in the bone and becomes hard, it stabilizes the fracture and frequently eliminates the pain from the broken bone.  Because the whole surgery is done through a needle, no stitches are needed and the patient can usually go home that same day, depending on their other health issues.For more information about spinal treatments, please give us a call today at 918-286-3124. Dr. Parchuri, Dr. Sparks and their staff are ready to discuss the details of each treatment to determine which would be the best choice for you.

A minimally invasive fusion accessing the lumbar spine from the side of the patient’s body.

This minimally invasive procedure allows a small incision with very little damage to the muscles and thus a quick recovery.  Patient selection is key to this procedure being successful.

This procedure is most commonly used to address spinal stenosis. It requires removing bone spurs and ligaments that are compressing the spinal cord and nerves.  No rods or screws are involved with this procedure.

Correcting scoliosis involves placing multiple screws and hooks along the length of the curved spine. Instrumentation is always used to decrease the curvature. Bone grafts can be added to fuse the vertebrae in the straighter and less curved spine configuration.

In a sacroiliac joint fusion, one or both sides of the sacrum are grafted to the ilium to encourage bone growth across the joint. Fusion occurs during the healing process following surgery and is achieved using implanted instrumentation and/or a bone graft. Our SI joint fusion procedure is minimally invasive, the most common method, which is performed through a small incision in the buttock.

A Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) is an implanted device that stimulates the spinal cord and spinal nerves with tiny electrical impulses to relieve pain. Spinal cord stimulators consist of thin wires (the electrodes) and a small, pacemaker-like battery pack (the generator). The electrodes are placed between the spinal cord and the vertebrae (the epidural space), and the generator is placed under the skin, usually near the buttocks or abdomen. Spinal cord stimulators allow patients to send the electrical impulses using a remote control when they feel pain. Both the remote control and its antenna are outside the body.

The narrowing of the spine can cause painful pressure on the spinal cord, which can be caused by a tumor that has spread to the spine’s thoracic region. This procedure removes the lamina from the vertebral bodies and provides access to remove the tumor and take away the pressure on the spinal nerves. Instrumentation can be added to stabilize the vertebrae.