Southwest Scoliosis and Spine Institute’s board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopedic physicians Richard Hostin, MD, Devesh Ramnath, MD, Ishaq Y. Syed, MD, Shyam Kishan, MD, and Kathryn Wiesman, MD have years of experience treating thousands of patients with complex spine conditions. We want to make sure we have everything in order for your upcoming surgery, so we devised a listing of possible testing and appointments that may be required. Furthermore, our staff will help you through the pre-surgery process.
Prior to the date of your procedure, doctors will examine you to ensure that spine surgery will not cause a problem to your overall health. Our care staff can help you make arrangements for your testing, which may include:
- Chest X-ray, EKG, bloodwork (mandatory)
- Cardiac stress test or pulmonary function test
- Imaging tests (MRI, CT scan, etc.)

Medical Clearance Before Scoliosis Surgery
For patients with significant medical issues, we will seek medical clearance prior to being given a surgery date. In other words, this allows patients to make changes to their medical treatment that may be needed to ensure they can undergo major surgery. For your information, medical clearance involves an exam by an internal medicine physician and possibly a cardiologist, hematologist, and pulmonologist if necessary. Also, the doctor may schedule a pain management consultant to help patients manage medicine before and after surgery. Please bring a list of all your medicines to all appointments.
Cardiac Clearance
We will seek cardiac clearance before Scoliosis Surgery for patients who:
- See a cardiologist
- Maintain a history of cardiac issues
- Experience heart disease
Please provide our staff with contact info for your cardiologist so that we can request copies of any exams or tests you took this past year.
Bloodwork
Patients will give Bloodwork and a urine sample prior to surgery. Further lab work may also take place, based on your medical and surgical history.
Insurance
We will obtain pre-approval from your health insurance company prior to surgery. It’s possible that you may receive a confirmation letter from them. Finally, we will obtain health insurance approval from your insurance company for a stay of one or two days in the hospital. If your doctor wants you to say another day in the hospital, a member of our staff will update your status and extend the insurance approval. Upon moving to a rehab center, we will obtain the required insurance approvals for the move.
If you or a loved one suffers from spinal pain, you owe it to yourself to call Southwest Scoliosis and Spine Institute at 214-556-0555 to make an appointment.