J. Abbott Byrd, III, M.D., a board certified Orthopaedic Spine Surgeon with Atlantic Orthopaedic Specialists has recently been recognized as having performed a first of its kind in Virginia spinal surgery procedure. The surgery which took place at Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center in Norfolk involved implanting the Stabilimax NZ ® Dynamic Spine Stabilization System (developed by Applied Spine Technologies) in an 83 year old female patient with Lumbar Spinal Stenosis. The surgery was part of a randomized, controlled clinical research study that compares patients implanted with the new device to those having received traditional fusion surgery for this common, spinal condition. Some of the benefits of this new procedure are that it is far less invasive than spinal fusion, uses common surgical techniques, and has the potential to preserve spinal motion and function in patients.