Treatments

Dr J. Patrick Johnson has over 20 years experience as a complex spinal neurosurgeon starting with his training at UCLA starting in the mid 1980’s when technology in spinal surgery was having its modern day renaissance where he had opportunities to gain expertise in essentially every aspect of spinal disorders and spinal surgery. He attributes many of his successes to the training he had with Dr Ulrich Batzdorf and Dr Donald Becker at UCLA, then Dr Alan Crockard at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases in London, England and as the 1st Spine Fellow at the University of Tennessee in Memphis with another UCLA alumnus, Dr Kevin Foley. In the past decade he has expanded his expertise to include spinal deformity surgery including scoliosis working with a team of leading and highly experienced orthopedic spinal surgeons at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles.

While on the faculty at UCLA, he was a key surgeon in establishing the UCLA Comprehensive Spine Center, the UCLA Neurosurgery Spine Fellowship and the UCLA Spine Surgery and Computer Guided Laboratories. He rapidly became a widely published innovator of medical devices, minimally invasive and endoscopic techniques and complex reconstructive surgery including scoliosis. Dr Johnson has published extensively and is an author of over 500 peer-reviewed publications, books, book chapters, posters, abstracts, presentations and served as Visiting Professor at many leading academic medical centers in the United States and internationally.

He established himself as one of the premier spine surgeons on the West Coast while at UCLA by taking on and successfully treating the most complex spine problems ranging from spinal trauma, spinal tumors and cancer, spinal infections and complex deformity. He is also known as the “physician’s physician” regularly sought after to treat other doctors and their families. He continued his highly successful career to become the Director of the Institute for Spinal Disorders at Cedars Sinai in 2001 to establish it as a premier Spine Center of Excellence now with a world-renowned reputation for innovative research and education. His leadership played a key role in the development of the new Neurosurgery Residency Training Program at Cedars Sinai and now has expanded his presence of leadership and clinical expertise to include professorial positions in the Departments of Neurosurgery at UC Irvine in Orange County and UC Davis in Sacramento.

His expertise covers the entire spectrum of spinal disorders that includes not only degenerative disc and nerve related problems that are commonly treated but also includes more complex disorders and treatments not often treated by neurosurgeons and orthopedic spinal surgeons. Some of the featured problems, disorders, procedures and treatments he has particular interest, experience, and expertise are listed below.