Home HEALTH DOCTOR PROFILES Everett Robert, MD

Everett Robert, MD

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Dr. Everett Robert is the department chair of neurosurgery at East Jefferson General Hospital and a practicing neurosurgeon at Southern Brain and Spine, a cutting-edge neurosurgical center in Metairie.
EverettRobertMD He specializes in surgeries of the spine, the brain and of the nerves in the arms and legs, and has unique experience in complex and minimally invasive spine operations.

ABOUT ME
What is your average day—if you have one?
Every day I see my patients in the hospital. On days that I’m in clinic, I see new patients with brain tumors, spine problems or back pain and I recommend medications, physical therapy, injections or surgery, depending on the severity of their problems.

The other days I spend in the operating room. I typically perform two to three surgeries a day and I might also get calls from the emergency room when patients come in with things like a brain hemorrhage or a herniated disk.

Can you talk about the minimally invasive spine surgeries you perform?
Fewer than 20% of neurosurgeons in the U.S. do minimally invasive spine surgery, which is a shame, because any sort of conventional spine surgery can be done with minimally invasive techniques.

I make small incisions, each roughly the size of a quarter, and, using a microscope, I insert and guide a small tube to the area of the spine on which I will operate. Besides the advantage of having smaller incisions, there is decreased pain, muscle destruction, blood loss, risk of infection and a shorter hospital stay. At Southern Brain and Spine, we can also do conventional spine surgery through small incisions.

ABOUT MY PRACTICE
What issues do patients come to you with?
I see patients with neck pain, back pain, a herniated disk that causes leg or arm pain, brain tumors, those who have fractured their spine and those who I have operated on and are coming in for follow up.

What do you like most about your field?
I was drawn to neurosurgery because of the diversity of procedures I can perform and problems I can address. As a neurosurgeon, I operate on every part of the body that has a nerve. I also appreciate helping get patients out of pain. My patients are in very serious pain, and I love the instant gratification of being able to drastically change their quality of life through one procedure.

What is a common misperception about neurosurgery?
It isn’t commonly understood that neurosurgeons are trained in spine surgery and that spine surgery today is vastly different from what it was 20 years ago. People will continue to live in pain because they think that, as a result of spine surgery, they will be laid up for a long time or that the surgery will be ineffective; when, in fact, spine surgery is the fastest way to get patients out of pain, back up on their feet and back to work.

ADDRESS:
Southern Brain and Spine
4228 Houma Blvd, Suite 510
Metairie, LA 70006

PHONE:
(504) 454-0141 x135

RESIDENCIES:
Louisiana State University, Neurological Surgery, 2006-2010
Louisiana State University, General Surgery, 2003-2004

SPECIALTY:
Neurosurgery

PHILOSOPHY:
“Treat patients how you would want to be treated and do the right thing no matter what.”