Meet the Doctors: Barry Katz, MD

Dr. Barry Katz is a board-certified

neurosurgeon, which means he performs

life-changing surgery on the nervous system,

specifically the brain and spinal cord.

He treats many spinal cord problems, including

herniated disc, spine instability, pinched nerve

and spinal stenosis. These issues are associated

with chronic pain, and surgery can often bring

instantaneous relief.

“It can be quite miraculous,” he said. “For

instance, I’ll have a patient who can’t

walk or even stand up due to pain, and

as soon as they wake up from surgery,

they can. It’s life changing.”

In addition, Dr. Katz is an expert in life-saving

procedures including kyphoplasty, lumbar

and cervical spine fusion, head trauma, brain

tumors and hydrocephaly. He performs

biopsies, hemorrhage removal and tumor

removal, and he has expertise in state-of-theart

technology used to perform delicate brain

surgeries.

Dr. Katz attended medical school and

completed residency at the Feinberg School

of Medicine at Northwestern University in

Chicago. He practiced in North Carolina for 10

years before moving to Northwest Arkansas

and later Joplin. For the past three years, he

has been with Mercy working as part of a team

practicing in Joplin, Springfield and Northwest

Arkansas.

Because Dr. Katz is a general neurosurgeon,

he can diagnose and treat the vast majority

of neurosurgical problems. Nearby Mercy

neurosurgeons in Springfield are available for

highly specialized procedures like pediatric

neurosurgery, skull-based surgeries and

neurovascular treatment for aneurysms.

“I’ve always found the human brain and

neurology very interesting, and I knew from

a young age I wanted to be a neurosurgeon,”

Dr. Katz said. “With new technology and the

medical advancements I have seen over the

course of my career, neurosurgery has never

ceased to be fascinating to me.”

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