Meet Denver Neurosurgeon Joshua Hughes, MD

Brain Disorders

Dr. Hughes treats brain tumors and other various pathologies–including trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm–with observation, surgery, and/or radiosurgery. He sees a variety of brain tumors including meningiomas, gliomas, pituitary adenomas, metastasis, and schwannomas, and spent a year in residency focusing on tumors that occur at the skull base.  He trained in and practices both open and endoscopic approaches, as well as radiosurgery.

Spine Disorders

Dr. Hughes manages spine issues with multi-modal therapy including medication, physical therapy, pain management, and surgery.  Most spine surgery is performed because of something compressing the spinal cord or nerves causing weakness, numbness, or pain. There are three main sections of the spine: cervical, thoracic, and lumbar. Dr. Hughes performs surgery in all sections for a variety of conditions including disk herniation, myelopathy, tumor, and structural abnormalities. His practice includes open, minimally invasive, and endoscopic techniques. When indicated, he places hardware, such as screws and rods, and disk replacements. He believes there is no one-size-fits all approach to spine surgery; a number of factors must be considered in deciding an approach and this should be done in collaboration with the patient.

Peripheral Nerve

The most commonly compressed structure of the peripheral nervous system is the median nerve in the wrist. This causes pain and numbness in the thumb, index, and middle finger. Dr. Hughes treats severe cases or cases that have not improved with non-surgical management with endoscopic carpal tunnel release. The benefits of this include a smaller surgical incision with a faster recovery time.