Spine

Program

Back pain is ranked second only to headaches as the most frequent location of pain among Americans. Four out of five adults experience a bout of back pain at some time in their lives, and fortunately the vast majority of these patients recover with no medical or surgical intervention.

For others, back problems can interfere with basic life experiences. It is the nation’s leading cause of disability, and even though it is not often life-threatening, estimates of its total cost to society range from $20 billion to $50 billion a year in the United States.

Spinal injuries and diseases are among the most complex and difficult of ailments found in modern life. Millions suffer from the broad range of disease processes that can affect the spine, which include degenerative conditions such as lumbar and cervical disk diseases and rheumatoid arthritis, spinal cord and vertebral tumors, spinal cord malformations, trauma and infections.

Patients with serious acute or chronic spinal disease can benefit from the advanced, personalized care available at the Neurosurgery Spine Center at Yale. Accurate diagnosis and successful treatment require a complex blend of art and science. Specialized experience, advanced technology, sophisticated diagnostic expertise and outstanding surgical skills combine to ensure patients the best chances of a successful outcome.

Looking at the Whole Picture

The center provides comprehensive diagnostic services for patients whose conditions have not been definitely identified as well as treatment evaluations and surgical options for those whose previous surgeries may not have been wholly successful. Patients who are referred to the Spine Center are carefully evaluated to determine the best course of treatment for their individual situation. The goal is to improve the condition and quality of life of each patient with the most advanced, least invasive treatment.

Dr. Khalid Abbed, Director, Spine Program

Program Director

Khalid Abbed, M.D.

Dr. Khalid Abbed is an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and the Chief of Spine Surgery at the Yale Spine Institute (YSI). He is also the Director of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at Yale. He has a full-time clinical practice at Yale-New Haven Hospital and Greenwich Hospital. Dr. Abbed's area of clinical interest is in the treatment of spinal disorders and his research interests include clinical trials, outcomes studies, and new technologies and innovations in spine surgery.

Dr. Abbed was born and raised in Illinois and obtained his bachelor's degree in the Biological Sciences from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. He continued his education at the University of Illinois and received his Doctor of Medicine degree with Honors, ranking first in his class and being elected for admission into Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA), medicine's highest honor society, during his junior year. After medical school, Dr. Abbed completed his internship in Surgery and residency in Neurological Surgery at Harvard University at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He then completed a fellowship in Orthopedic and Neurosurgical Spinal Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.

Contact Information

Dr. Khalid Abbed, Director
Spine Center
office and appointments:
203-785-2807