photograph courtesy semmes murphey clinic
Editor’s Note: Every year, the national medical group Castle Connolly compiles a list of the best doctors in America. In the Memphis area, the complete 2023 Top Doctors list comprises 350 physicians, representing 59 specialties. Here, we introduce you to one of the caregivers who have been named a Top Doc time and again.
A third-generation neurosurgeon, it’s no surprise that some of Dr. Raul Cardenas’ earliest memories — those not on a soccer field in Mérida, Mexico, or behind a drum kit — involve the medical heroics of his father (also Raul). “I started going to the office with him when I was 15 or 16,” explains Cardenas, “because it was either that or get into trouble. Watching him in the operating room, then visiting with patients after surgery. It captured my imagination. He always loved to go to work. Always happy.”
Cardenas was born in Memphis (his father trained at Semmes Murphey Clinic in the mid-Seventies) and first returned to the city for his undergrad studies at CBU (class of 1997). When he got a call from Semmes Murphey in 2014, he and his wife — living in Houston at the time — packed their bags and returned to the Mid-South for good.
“Nowadays, you can get rid of pain with an incision about 16 millimeters in length.” — Dr. Raul Cardenas
Focusing on spine and neck surgery, Cardenas has the skills to transform a patient’s life, whether that patient is suffering chronic pain or the trauma of a serious accident. It was the rapid recovery of his father’s patients that inspired Cardenas to pursue the same craft. A person would arrive at the hospital with a debilitating back ailment, unable to walk … then stroll confidently out of the hospital on her own a week later. “I thought my father walked on water,” says Cardenas.
Back and neck surgery have grown to be minimally invasive, thanks largely to technology invented by Dr. Kevin Foley, a colleague of Cardenas’ at Semmes Murphey with more than 150 patents to his credit. “Nowadays,” notes Cardenas, “you can get rid of pain with an incision about 16 millimeters in length. We have X-rays in the room, and we can use these tiny retractors invented here in Memphis to do an operation. Within an hour, a patient is up, walking around, without pain. A little back soreness. That retractor can get us to the point of interest by just being able to dilate through the muscles. Patients go home the same day [of surgery].”
Cardenas is quick to acknowledge his drumming skills were not going to pay any bills. But his hands have made profound impact, nonetheless, tools for the most delicate of medical procedures. “My fine motor skills under the microscope have improved significantly,” says Cardenas. “I feel bad if I touch a nerve [during surgery]. It’s become second nature.” Cardenas estimates that he performs 350 surgeries a year, many of them taking no more than an hour. “You’re always a little anxious, and you want to be,” says Cardenas. “It’s like the start of a game, if you’ve played any sports. You’re a bit on edge, hyper-focused. I could be focused for two or three hours [during a procedure] and it feels like only 20 or 30 minutes have gone by.”
The future of neck and back surgery is now, and Cardenas likes to emphasize the local impact on his field. “People in Memphis don’t necessarily know that Dr. Foley and Dr. Maurice Smith (also at Semmes Murphey) are the inventors of technology that revolutionized the way we do spine surgery,” says Cardenas. “It’s a paradigm shift. In my view, minimally invasive is the only way. And there were detractors. It fills me with a special pride.”
