Services offered at PSSI

Puget Sound Spine Institue (PSSI) is a group of physicians and physician assistant specializing in the management of disorders of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine. We see and treat patients with spinal injuries, degenerative diseases, inflammatory conditions, deformity, spinal infections, and tumors of the spine.

The group consists of four orthopedic surgeons with spine fellowship training, two physiatrists, and one physician assistant. We have offices at three locations in Tacoma, and at two satellite clinics - one in Gig Harbor and one in Federal Way.

Although we come from very different backgrounds, the PSSI partners share a comon philosophy: Through patient education and less invasive intervention, we aim to restore function and minimize disability. We encourage patient empowerment through education and exercise programs designed to improve dynamic function, with or without surgery. Surgical intervention is performed only after non-operative options have been exhausted.

The group offers extensive expertise in injections - both therapeutic (such as epidural and facet joint injections) and diagnostic (such as selective spinal nerve blocks and discography). We routinely use fluoroscopic imaging in these injections, which has been found to significantly increase efficacy.

We have found that our wide-ranging experience and varied interests lead to continual improvement through critical discourse. New and emerging techniques and procedures are regularly evaluated and discussed within the group. There is an ongoing effort to retrain if and when these new techniques are felt to be of significant benefit to the patient.