After I lifted some extremely heavy furniture, I knew I had a serious injury. I had the worst pain I have ever experienced in my 80+ years.
When my general practitioner physician x-rayed my back the following day and followed up with an MRI, he said with complete confidence, "You need to see a spine specialist surgeon named Dr. Michael Burdi. He is excellent . You have fractured your L3 disc," I was shocked at the fracture news but desperate to follow my long-trusted doctor's advice. He wrote down Dr. Burdi's name, his telephone number and said, "Call him today; he is widely known and he is an expert in using Kyphoplasty, which is what I know you need."
I called and got an appointment and because I was in severe pain, his medical staff suggested I come to their office immediately. The short version of this positive story is that I walked in with pain and met a doctor who not only is educated and trained as a spine surgeon, but also carefully listens to the patient's current injury and also asks pertinent questions about past surgeries, drug interactions and then shows the patient, as he did for me, the MRI on a screen indicating exactly where the fracture was. He spent almost an hour with me, and I left with several scheduled tests to complete and medical records to bring back to him or FAX them. He also fitted me with a temporary brace that almost entirely stopped my pain. I went back to see him and in less than a week, I was told to report at 7 a.m. to a surgery center to have the Kyphoplasty procedure done under anesthesia, meeting three other medical specialists who would assist the doctor as he repaired my fracture. I already had been told he would use a probe to insert what he called "surgery cement" on the wound and the substance would be hardened in less than a half hour. No stitches or cutting, just using the probe and the substance. When the procedure was completed and the anesthesia wore off, I was cared for by a surgery nurse and doctor Bird's P.A., Tyler who went over post-op procedures and told me to call if I had any pain or concerns. If not, I was to report back in a few days. I left with no brace on, no pain and went back to Dr. Burdi as one delighted patient! He saw me for two post-op follow-ups and since that day of my Kyphoplasty, now several months ago, I have had zero pain and have not taken so much as one Tylenol. I feel especially fortunate to have had only two small Bandaids where the probe went in. I continue telling everyone I know who has back pain and wants relief and an excellent spine surgeon to call him and expect to have wonderful results.

Submitted March 26, 2023

Would I recommend Dr. Burdi? The short answer is yes, 100%, without a shadow of a doubt, I HIGHLY recommend Dr. Burdi & his staff!!

If you have a little more time, here is why: 4.5 years ago I was referred by my primary doctor to Dr. Burdi for my herniated disk. Right from our 1st appointment I liked his straight forward approach. He mentioned surgery is always a last option and will try every conservative option first. That I appreciated b/c back surgery was not something I wanted. Good news after about 2 mths of physical therapy & an epidural steroid injection I got relief from my herniated disk & was back to my life. Fast forward to March 2020, I woke up one morning to the pain of my herniated disk again. The pain was severe, but I figured if I focused on my physical therapy exercises, inversion and ice/heat therapy like before then in a month I should be ok. Well that month lasted for 3 months with no relief and the pain was so much worse than 4.5 years earlier, so I knew I would need to go in and see Dr. Burdi. After x-rays, P/T and a new MRI we found out unfortunately my herniated disk had gotten worse over the 4.5 years and the disk above was also starting to slip. We spent the next 1.5 mths trying every conservative option - pain management, oral steroids, P/T, 2 rounds of double epidural steroid injections, but my pain was no better and my quality of life was definitely being affected. The pain while walking or standing on a scale of 1 to 10 ranged between 10-15 and the pain while sitting or lying down ranged between 7-10. We literally threw the “kitchen sink” of conservative options at it with no progress, so I knew at the beginning of August my only option was surgery. Dr. Burdi has always explained each treatment or procedure and he did the same when it came to going over my surgical options, as I had two surgical avenues to consider since one disc was herniated & another one was starting to slip. Dr. Burdi patiently and thoroughly answered every question I had once I decided to move forward with the multi-level lumbar laminectomy, fusion-instrumented surgery to deal with the L4/L5 herniated disc and the L3/L4 Spondylolisthesis. Dr. Burdi mentioned Pat would help me get everything lined up as she had with my previous procedures and she was absolutely amazing in working with the hospital, insurance and making sure I got every pre-op clearance I needed. While I knew the risks I was also excited on the morning of my surgery b/c I was so ready to have the pain gone and to have my life back. I was at peace with my decision, I trusted Dr. Burdi and I still believe that God has blessed Dr. Burdi with the skills, gifts and abilities of being a very talented orthopedic surgeon and he has an incredible team around him including finding out the morning of my surgery that I would have IntraOperative NeuroMonitoring services during the surgery. My surgery was in the morning and later that evening was the first time they had me get out of bed and walk and I walked with no pain in my back, leg, ankle or foot!! That was the first time in 5.5 mths that I could stand and walk with no pain!! The only pain present was the incision pain, but I was fine with that and that got better with each day and after 10 days I was off the heavy pain meds and only took tylenol as needed. The ice therapy machine and ice packs really helped with my incision pain over the next couple weeks. My stitches came out at my 1 week check up and Dr. Burdi also recommended that I wear a bone stimulator starting 1 week after my surgery which I wore for 2 hours a day for 6 months, to help increase the success of the multilevel fusion. Dr. Waldron (Dr. Burdi’s Assistant) also recommended getting into physical therapy as soon as I was feeling good as their experience was those that got into P/T sooner rather than later, did better, there was less pain and stiffness. I felt good enough 3 weeks after my surgery to start P/T and did that for five weeks. Dr. Waldron showed me the progress on my x-rays on my 1 mth, 3 mth & 6mth follow up appointments and am praying my 9mth and 12mth follow ups continue to show great progress. The no bending, lifting or twisting restrictions, while an adjustment are truly very important and worth it, if it means a successful fusion!! If you need a caring, friendly, knowledgeable, talented team to help you work through your back pain I HIGHLY encourage you call Dr. Burdi, you wont be disappointed! I am very grateful for Dr. Burdi, Dr. Waldron, Pat, the front office and back office staff, THANK YOU doesn’t seem like enough. I have my life back, I had a very successful surgery and as I go in for my 9 mth check up in 2 days, I must say I have also had a very successful recovery so far and I am looking forward to my 12 mth all clear check up!!

Submitted June 3, 2021

Dr. Burdi was recommended to me by friends who had surgery with him. I suffered from severe lower pain for four years and was very uncomfortable.When I saw Dr. Burdi he was very thorough, took X-rays and I was told that I had severe stenosis at L4 and L5. The pain continued and Dr. Burdi ordered an MRI and I was told that I needed to have a laminectomy with fusion. The surgery was successful and the pain was over. I am very happy that Dr. Burdi performed my surgery.

Submitted Oct. 16, 2017

Michael Burdi did decompression at level c5 from the back 20 months ago when I woke up I couldn't move my right arm at all. My c5 nerve was not sending signal to my arm muscles, when I went to post surgery appointment he said that nothing had gone wrong at surgery. I am still struggling with my right arm strength that is about 50% less that before surgery.

Submitted Aug. 11, 2017

I was in pain for months before heading to my general doctor. I was sent to Physical therapy and accupuncture while waiting for my MRI and other tests. But accupuncture and Physical Therapy gave no relief and I was then referred to Dr. Burdi for further evaluation. He was helpful, informative, and gave me all of my options. I chose to have the surgery - microdiscectomy. Dr. Burdi, Tyler, Pam and all of his other staff were very helpful & answered all of my questions whenever I called or was in for any appointment. The surgery was the best thing I could have done. I was scared and crying in the appointments leading up to the surgery but Dr. Burdi and his staff were very reassuring. Dr. Burdi performed an excellent surgery for me and I'm so happy with the results. All of my pain is gone thanks to him.

Submitted Nov. 18, 2016