March 25, 2008

Mark Flanum, MD, spine surgeon, joins Orthopedic Associates of Sauk Prairie in August 2008. He is the first spine surgeon for the people of Sauk Prairie and outlying areas. This makes available spine care rarely seen in small communities.

According to the Center for the Advancement of Health in Washington, DC, four out of five adults experience back pain at some point in their lives. Back problems can incapacitate a person and make it difficult to lead a normal life.

Flanum provides treatment for the full range of conditions of the cervical (neck), thoracic (upper back), and lumbar (low back) spine. Medical conditions are numerous and include trauma, disk herniation (slipped disk), deformity, and spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal column that produces pressure on nerve roots.

Disk replacement surgery, which has been done by a limited number of spine surgeons in the United States, is also performed by Flanum.

Flanum is currently working in New Zealand where he performs complex spine surgeries. He earned his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in 2002, followed by an internship and orthopedic residency at University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison. Flanum is board eligible in orthopedics and a resident member of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and American Medical Association.

More information about the arrival of Mark Flanum, MD, is available from Orthopedic Associates of Sauk Prairie, 35 Prairie Avenue, Prairie du Sac, WI, telephone 608-643-2471.