CDA Spine

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CDA Spine Providing the highest quality surgical and regenerative solutions to optimize your health. Dr. Jeffrey Larson

10/07/2026

Leg pain doesn’t always feel like pain.

Burning. Tingling. Electric shocks. Strange, unpleasant sensations that can be difficult to describe.

Irritation of a spinal nerve, or a sensitive part of it called the dorsal root ganglion, can produce these peculiar sensations, known as dysesthesia.

In this reel, I explain the connection, and why your description of those sensations matters.

“The mind that diagnoses you, and the hands that heal you.”

09/29/2026

Before I operate on your spine, your story, your examination, and your imaging need to tell the same story.

If they don’t, I keep looking.

“The mind that diagnoses you, and the hands that heal you.”

09/09/2026

This patient is 86, but this lesson isn’t about age.

For active people with leg pain, weakness, or numbness from a compressed nerve, the answer is not automatically a fusion. When the symptoms, examination, and imaging precisely correlate, a focused decompression may relieve the nerve while preserving normal motion and anatomy.

That principle matters whether you’re 36, 56, or 86.

The goal is the right operation for the right patient, not simply treating an MRI.

Correlation before intervention. Motion preservation whenever possible.

08/17/2026

Would you operate?

An MRI can look dramatic. That doesn’t necessarily mean the patient needs surgery.

The decision to operate comes from correlation: the patient’s story, the physical examination, the imaging, and when necessary, functional diagnostic testing.

Treat the patient, not the MRI.

“The mind that diagnoses you, and the hands that heal you”

08/06/2026

Would you operate? 🤔

The patient clearly needed surgery for the L5/S1 spondylolisthesis. That wasn’t the question.

The real decision was whether to include L4/5.

The MRI showed degenerative changes at L4/5, but imaging alone doesn’t determine what should be treated. A targeted diagnostic injection failed to reproduce or relieve the patient’s symptoms, making it unlikely that L4/5 was the symptomatic pain generator.

So I chose not to operate on L4/5.

If that level becomes symptomatic in the future, we can still preserve motion with an artificial disc replacement (ADR). Once you fuse a level unnecessarily, that opportunity is gone.

The goal isn’t to treat every abnormal MRI finding. The goal is to treat the level responsible for the patient’s symptoms.

That’s why I often say:

The complication rate of the wrong diagnosis is 100%.

Treat the patient, not the MRI.

“The mind that diagnoses you, and the hands that heal you.”

07/28/2026

Every patient has a story.

This is why I believe the right diagnosis comes before the right operation. When a patient’s history, examination, imaging, and, when appropriate, functional testing all correlate, the path forward becomes much clearer. That’s when lives can change.

Worth Traveling For Care.

No need to go to Germany for artificial disc surgery. The right diagnosis comes before the right operation, and expert motion, preserving spine care is available right here in Coeur d’Alene. Come see Dr. Larson.

Thank you, Bev, for the Ketchup potato chips and Cadbury chocolate.

“The mind that diagnoses you. The hands that heal you.”

ArtificialDiscReplacement

07/08/2026

The Hip Replacement Trap

A worn-out hip X-ray showing arthritis isn’t a diagnosis.

It’s a finding.

The real question is whether that arthritis actually explains the patient’s pain.

I’ve seen patients undergo hip replacement, recover from surgery, and still have the exact same pain. The problem wasn’t the hip, it was referred pain from the lumbar spine.

Groin pain. Thigh pain. Pain with standing or walking.

Those symptoms can come from the hip or the spine. Imaging alone can’t tell you which one is responsible.

Before replacing any joint, the diagnosis has to be made.

Does the patient’s pain actually correlate with that joint?

If not, you’re operating on an image - not the source of the pain.

Every operation is a diagnosis first.

“The mind that diagnoses you.
The hands that heal you.”

06/25/2026

Would you operate?

The MRI may look convincing, but imaging isn’t the diagnosis.

I wouldn’t operate unless correlation was dialed in.

Symptoms. Examination. Imaging. Functional confirmation.

When those align, confidence follows. When they don’t, surgery can solve the wrong problem.

Treat the patient, not the MRI.

“The mind that diagnoses you, and the hands that heal you.”

06/19/2026

Correlation Before Intervention

The complication rate of the wrong diagnosis is 100%.

In spine surgery, the MRI is not the diagnosis. The diagnosis is the correlation of the patient’s symptoms, physical examination, imaging findings, and, when necessary, functional confirmation.

Today at the Mazama Spine Summit, I’ll be discussing lumbar motion preservation, diagnostic precision, and why treating the patient, not the MRI, remains the foundation of good spine care.

Every operation is a diagnosis first.

“The mind that diagnoses you, and the hands that heal you.”

06/08/2026

Getting your surgery approved isn’t about finding the right MRI. It’s about proving the right diagnosis.

Insurance companies are looking for a clear story:
âś… Symptoms that fit the diagnosis
âś… Physical exam findings that support it
âś… Imaging that correlates
âś… Appropriate conservative treatment
âś… Documentation showing why surgery is medically necessary

The complication rate of the wrong diagnosis is 100%.

At CDA Spine, we focus on correlation before intervention, because the best surgery is the one performed on the right patient, for the right reason, at the right level.

Treat the patient, not the MRI.

“The mind that diagnoses you, and the hands that heal you”

Address

3320 N Grand Mill Lane
Coeur D'alene, ID
83814

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+12087659100

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