DREAM SURGERY
TV SERIES
In Production
Doctor and his team perform life altering surgeries on disabled patients using advanced technology and procedures.
A close look at the benefits of modern
medicine and the entire surgical process:
Pre-Operation, Surgery, Post-Operation and Recovery.
About DR. Justin Paquette
Justin Paquette, MD specializes in cervical, thoracic and lumbar spinal disorders, minimally invasive and neuronavigation-assisted spine surgery, adult and pediatric spinal deformity, scoliosis, motion preservation technology, artificial discs and other non-fusion surgeries, endoscopic spinal surgery, spinal tumor management, spine trauma and complex spine reconstruction, as well as non-operative spine management.
Dr. Paquette’s current research projects involve the effects of spinal fluid dynamics on the development of idiopathic scoliosis and biomechanical parameters of biological cervical plates as compared to standard anterior cervical plates. In addition, he has researched long term effects of adult deformity surgery and has written articles for several peer-reviewed publications, including NeuroReport.
He serves as a traveling instructor for advanced surgical techniques and motion preservation technologies and has been a national speaker for current research and surgical techniques in Boston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Jamaica. Dr. Paquette has also been interviewed for multiple medical television programs including upcoming shows on E! Entertainment and Lifetime.
Walking Again: Health Story about Leon Smith
A year ago, Leon Smith was a quadriplegic—unable to breathe on his own and facing a lifetime of immobility. "I just didn't believe I would never be able to move again," says Leon. Even doctors were skeptical. "The chances of any kind of a recovery in an injury as severe as Leon had and for a period of time as long as he had had it, is essentially zero. His third and fourth vertebrae were completely crushed down," says Dr. Justin Paquette. But then Dr. Paquette performed a surgery using neuro-navigation, a computer guided operating tool, to reassemble Smith's neck. The results were simply unbelievable. |
Season: 1, Episode: 1
Doctor: Justin Paquette
Patient: Billy Lucas
Bill Lucas, 51, a stunt double for Arnold Schwarznegger, has undergone a new type of spine fusion that promises a shorter recovery and less scaring than standard spinal-fusion surgery.
A new type of spine fusion promises a shorter recovery and less scarring for the tens of thousands of Americans who undergo surgery to alleviate lower back pain each year.
Billy Lucas, 51, has experienced all sorts of hazards in 30 years as a stuntman. He's flung, fallen and fought his way through such films as Terminator, Collateral Damage and True Lies as Arnold Schwarzenegger's stunt double.
I'm living in a world of pain, and I'm just not digging it, Lucas said.
In 1994, Lucas injured his lower back. Over the years, no amount of therapy, surgery or medication has brought him quite back to normal.
I don't want to throw the towel in. I want to keep being prolific and working as a stuntman, he said.
Lucas got interested, though, when he heard of a new surgery – a less invasive, spine-fusion treatment called axialif.
In the treatment, a surgeon makes a small incision by the tailbone. Then, looking only at continuous snapshots of X-rays, the surgeon guides his instruments to the lowest disc in the spine.
You don't see what's going on inside. You have to really, in your mind, have a good idea of what you're doing and also be able to adapt to what you see on the X-ray machine, neurosurgeon Dr. Justin Paquette said.
The doctor replaces the bad disc with bone and protein, and then inserts a screw that will open up both the disc space and the nerve tunnels that are causing pain. Doctors say axialif causes less blood loss, no scarring and has a shorter recovery time than a classic spine fusion surgery.
While standard spine surgery takes four hours, axialif takes only 90 minutes. It can even be done on an outpatient basis. Lucas might never be pain free, Paquette said, but his health will substantially improve, and soon, he'll be back in the action.
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