James Ecklund, MD: A Neurosurgeon’s “Can-Do” Attitude

An interview with traumatic brain injury expert James Ecklund, MD  by Michelle Rabell – (July 9, 2012)

When congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in 2011, Inova’s neurosurgeon James Ecklund was one of the two military-trained brain injury experts called to Arizona to consult on the case within 24 hours of the injury.

We spoke with Dr. Ecklund to learn more about his specialty.

Why did you choose neurosurgery over another specialty?

In medical school, I first thought I wanted to be a trauma surgeon because that’s what I saw in the news and watching Dr. Joe Gannon on TV (1970’s television drama, Medical Center) because it seemed exciting.

Then as a medical student at Walter Reed, I met a first year neurosurgery resident at a pizza party. He was a West Point grad like myself, and mentioned he was on call all night every third night, working over 100 hours per week.

Then he said “I figure that anything I do, in order to be successful in life, whether it be medicine, law or starting my own business, I’m going to be busting my butt.  So I’m busting my butt now; I’m making a difference,- and I like what I do.”

And I thought that’s the attitude I want. That’s a guy I can relate to. He’s a good friend to this day.

So, you wanted a challenge…

I’ve come to see that a common attitude among neurosurgeons is the “can-do”, “nothing’s too hard” attitude.

Frankly, the brain was kind of an unknown. Even other physicians were afraid of it because it’s the unforgiving beast; if you mess up, it’s permanent.

Is there one area (sub-specialty) of neurosurgery that you prefer?

I’ve really trained in everything. When I was chairman of neurosurgery at Walter Reid, if we didn’t have a pediatric surgeon, I’d do most of the pediatrics; if we didn’t have a vascular surgeon, I’d do most of the vascular and aneurysms.

I always had a love and interest in Spine and taught an international spine and peripheral nerve course for over ten years.

My research and my main interest, though, is military-relevant neurosurgery. At Walter Reed, that was a niche that wasn’t well represented.

I focus on penetrating brain injury, and recently I’ve been focusing on blast and ballistic injury to the brain. That is why when Congresswoman Giffords was shot, I was asked to consult on her case.

What are some common cases that are not related to the military for which a patient would need a neurosurgeon?

The most common cases – making up about 80% of neurosurgical cases around the country – is spine disease. This includes herniated disks, fusions, trauma or spine tumors.

Neurosurgery is a very broad specialty. We also take on vascular cases, aneurysms, AVM’s (arteriovenous malformation), brain tumors, pituitary tumors and peripheral nerve damage. We operate and cure people with epilepsy; we put stimulators in for pain, movement disorders and Parkinson’s disease.

We operate on the brain and the spinal cord. We enter through the head, from the neck to the spine, or from the chest and thoracic spine, back or the abdomen to get to the spine, and operate throughout all extremities on the peripheral nerves.

We really operate on the entire body.

If a patient came in with a herniated disk, for instance, how would they get to be seen by you or another neurosurgeon?

You or your family doctor can refer any spine patient to the Inova Spine Institute. Our nurse navigators will talk to you and facilitate the right first visit- it might be with a surgeon, or it could be with a physical medicine doctor or even a pain management physician.

James M. Ecklund, MD, is an internationally recognized neurosurgeon and medical director at Inova Neuroscience Institute, who has worked to help wounded soldiers with traumatic brain injuries. He is an educator and researcher, and spent ten years as chairman of neurosurgery at Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval Medical Center, during which time he was deployed to combat support hospitals in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Read about one of Dr. Ecklund’s rare brain injury cases in Baghdad

2 Comments

  1. Michael on January 29, 2016 at 4:04 pm

    I have seen a lot of neurosurgeons in the last 20 years; Dr Ecklund is the real thing as well as a nice guy. He is super professional, as is his staff, and genuinely cared about my case.

  2. Jonas kaye Ph D Pharm D tel 954-593-8228 on April 4, 2019 at 3:08 pm

    I am a researcher, elderly, and have an idea for a special boots with accessories which I believe would work for many PD patients which would lead them to improvement with their movements so that they would have a significant improvement in their lives. I know about some of the major walking problems as my grandmother had it and I lived with her in the same house. I have plans for equipment and believe that
    would do it. I myself fell and when I hit the ground I tore one of the muscles on my right shoulder and it took me about a year to get back to much better shape with pain and muscle weakness. I am going on age 90 and have BA and MA degrees in psychology as well as a PharmD and PhD in experimental psychology with subspecialty in behavioral pharmacology and was lead author at the Miami Heart Institute in the J of the Am Geriatric Society in 1976 where I tested early AD patients. I had already worked for much longer than 10 years on the problem now and if I could get a grant or work with you on this boots with accessories project which would require special springs and plastics, etc. than please call me if you are interested . It could also be used for other types of associated injuries including of military personnel and other patients.

Leave a Comment