Dr Tony Hammond is a Consultant Rheumatologist Specialising in Joint and Spinal Pain Management. Hammond leads Spinal and (non-surgical) Large Joint Pain Management for the international Orthopaedic Team at Oveli Healthcare.
Dr Hammond has 30 years of experience in Medicine, Rheumatology and Spinal Pain Management and like the other clinicians in the group, has innovated, taught and published throughout his career.
- Used Chymodiactin enzymatic "discectomy" in the 90’s
- Was the second clinician in the UK to use a spinal epiduroscopy ( a way of visualising the internal epidural space without opening it) and Adopted Racz Epidurolysis techniques in response to the pathology visualised.
- Joined SIS, now IPSIS, in 2001 and gained formal training in interventional techniques and is now a Senior Instructor and teaches and trains consultants and trainees internationally.
- Trained in Discography for the diagnosis of Discogenic spinal pain.
- Has been amongst few UK clinicians to actively diagnose and treat Discogenic back pain which account for up to 40% of cases of chronic pain and is infrequently diagnosed or treated in UK practice.
- Was the first in UK to deploy coblation nucleoplasty percutaneous decompression for discogenic back pain and sciatica in around 2007/8. The technology was approved by NICE in 2017. Has used this technology in the Cervical and Thoracic spine with success.
- Has used Medical Ozone injection in spinal pain and can access skilled clinicians in Turkey and outside of UK for this treatment, widely used internationally.
- Was the first in UK to deploy the improved DISC-FX technique for discogenic back pain and selected cases of sciatica and has published the largest series of cases in the UK with around 60% high grade improvement in chronic back pain.
- Has used Biaccuplasty posterior annulus denervation.
- Commenced Transforaminal Endoscopic discectomy in 2014, a minimally invasive technique which many UK spinal surgeons are now adopting.
- Has published on Antibiotic (MAST) therapy in Modic pain.
- Has used Radiofrequency Neurotomy techniques in spinal pain for many years using the best available techniques pioneered by the IPSIS organisation (still unfamiliar to many UK clinicians) and more recent technological innovations to make this more effective and cost-effective.
- Has used Radio-frequency neurotomy (Genicular Nerve Denervation) for knee pain for many years, recently approved by NICE and for hips.
- Continues to learn and is adopting the newest "multifidus sparing" techniques for Lumbar facet denervation and is training further to deliver RF pain control for shoulders and is chasing down a technique for ankles recently described.
