Frequently Asked Questions


How do I arrange a visit with ISPRoC?

Patients are seen by physician (MD or DO) referral.We are unable to take walk-ins.

Most of the time your primary care doctor – usually an internist or family practice – can call our main office at 419-522-1100 with your referral information. After we receive your basic contact information, we usually give an appointment time and date to you over the phone. Dr Timperman has officially retired from active elective neurosurgery as of May 30th, 2008. He will cover trauma surgical call through MedCentral Health System until the end of July 2008. Starting Sept 2008, he will be a consulting neurosurgeon here in our office, but he will officially be part of the Ohio State University Spine Center.

Visits to the Wyandot Hospital specialty clinic in Upper Sandusky are handled through Wyandot at 419-294 5887.

Any physician of any specialty can refer you. We have taken patients sent from neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, psychiatry even ENT (ear, nose & throat) doctors.

Terminally-ill and cancer pain patients are given first priority. If your doctor feels an immediate appointment is medically necessary, ANY DOCTOR can call Dr. Mike directly to review the case doctor-to-doctor and you will be seen within 2 business days, if not that day.

Previous Columbus patients are more than welcome to come to either of our other two offices. However, our Columbus office is closed. Please see the bottom of the Directions page.

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What if I have had prior spine surgery?

This is not a problem. Dr. Mike has a special interest and enjoys working with patients who have had prior surgery. Recent imaging studies are needed to see if there is a new surgical lesion. If there is, your original surgeon will be contacted. If you do not wish to see your original or most-recent surgeon then an effort will be made for a second opinion from a different spine surgeon. Dr. Albert Timperman will be retiring from surgery on May 31, 2008. There are tentative plans to bring another neurosurgeon to the Mansfield office from Columbus.

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What if my doctor just wants an EMG?

Confusion can result if this is not specified when the referral is made. Dr Stretanski (Dr Mike) is also board certified in Electrodiagnostic Medicine. We do a consult with all EMG’s because an EMG is nothing but an extension of a physical exam. The EMG and the nerve conductions are put together with the exam and history like building blocks. This report is sent to your doctor and you do not need to see us again unless you want to or your doctor requests.

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What if I am not sure if I need to see a surgeon?

We will help with this decision. We will also help find the right type of surgeon such as a joint replacement orthopedic doctor, a spine surgeon or a neurosurgeon.

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What if I would like to avoid a surgery if at all possible?

This is how most patients feel and is usually a healthy initial approach. It is our job to do everything possible to help you avoid an open surgery. It is equally important to get you into an operating room and having the right type of surgery when it is necessary. Many patients with leg pain who are limping develop back pain and may believe all the pain is coming from their back and spine. It is also possible there are some degenerative changes on your MRI and X-rays. In such a case, it is possible that a simple knee scope may be all that is needed.

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What if I have had a bad experience?

Where you are going is important, not where you have been. We have no control over and cannot account for what may have happened in the past. Most patients with chronic pain and many with acute pain are upset with at least one doctor. While Dr. Stretanski is available as a medico-legal consultant for both sides, no side is ever taken on prior experiences or medical liability on our active patients. Our focus is on getting you better, not helping you get even.

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What about sedation for procedures?

Sedation through an IV is available. However, 98% of our patients are done with numbing medicine in the skin. Proper elegant use of numbing medicine is really becoming a lost art in this country. We layer and use a high concentration and we use a bicarbonate solution – like baking soda – in the numbing medicine so it does not burn. Once that is in place you will be amazed at what you are not able to feel.

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Exactly what procedures do you offer?

We are able to offer the full range of options. There are three of four basic approaches for epidurals. If one has failed at another facility there is still hope. Any of these types can be done in the neck, thorax or lower back. We also do injections of groups of nerves for abdominal and pelvic pain called celiac/hypogastric plexus block. Small nerves in your back can be treated with a radioprobe called an RF cannula. There are two basic types of RF (pulsed and non-pulsed). Implantable technologies, such as spinal cord stimulators, can be placed for a short 3 to 7 day period and then removed. A permanent one can be placed at a later date. The inside of the disk can be “burned” or sucked out through a needle. The inside of a vertebra that has “cracked” and formed a compression fracture can often be filled with a plastic cement to “glue it back together”. Some of the time, a balloon, quite literally a balloon can “reinflate” the vertebra and then the balloon is removed and the plastic glue is put in the place of the balloon.
Your insurance status, and what your insurance allows, will need to be taken into consideration. Some procedures, which have been done safely and effectively for decades, are considered “experimental” by some private insurances. Many of these are paid for by Medicare and Medicaid. We will work with you to help get these paid, however, you may need to pursue legal action against your health insurance company.

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What if I have other problems besides my spine?

Many patients in pain start to accumulate other symptoms and diagnoses. Cases are treated comprehensively and issues are addressed in order of medical severity. Dr Mike regularly sees patients with all different types of pain from different sources and takes a special interest in headache, as well as, migraine. Many times the headache has not been considered as possibly coming from the neck.

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