Location: Skyline Care Center

Specializing in: Spine, Trauma, and General Orthopaedics

Dr. Babat is a graduate of Yale University School of Medicine, where he spent an additional year as a research fellow in Dr. Manohar Panjabi’s spine biomechanics laboratory. He completed his orthopaedic surgery residency at Brown University, where he also served as a trauma fellow. He then completed a combined neurosurgical and orthopaedic spine fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic. In addition to reconstructive spine surgery, Dr. Babat has a special interest in the management of spine tumors.

Dr. Babat is actively involved in teaching spine surgery to other surgeons, both nationally and internationally. He has taught board review courses to help surgeons prepare to take the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery exam, as well as courses on minimally invasive spine surgery. He has helped to develop spinal instrumentation for minimally invasive surgery applications, as well as for major deformity and reconstructive spine surgery. He also has a patent pending for a new form of spino-pelvic fixation, a type of instrument used in the most complex spine operations.

Dr. Babat is currently the Chief of Staff at Skyline Medical Center, and has just completed an unprecedented two consecutive terms as Chief of the Division of Orthopaedic and Neurosurgery.

Dr. Babat is a member of the North American Spine Society, The World Spine Society, The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and is the first member of the Society of Lateral Access Surgeons (SOLAS) in Middle Tennessee. He has published numerous journal articles and book chapters in the field of spine surgery.

Dr. Babat is affiliated with Skyline Medical Center, Hendersonville Medical Center, Williamson Medical Center, and Premier Orthopaedic Surgery Center. 

1.      Babat LB, McLain R. Metastatic disease of the thoracolumbar spine. In Mclain, R (ed.): Cancer in the Spine: Comprehensive Care. Totowa, N.J., Humana Press, 2006, pp 255-264.

2.      Benzel EC, Steinmetz MP, Henwood AM, Babat LB, Mekhail AO. When is Enough, Enough? In Mclain, R (ed.): Cancer in the Spine: Comprehensive Care. Totowa, N.J., Humana Press, 2006, pp 365-370.

3.      Babat LB, McLain RF, Milks R, Ferrara L, Sohn M. The effects of the antiresorptive agents calcitonin and pamidronate on spine fusion in a rabbit model. Spine Journal 5(5):542-547, 2005.

4.      Babat LB, McLain RF, Bingaman W, Biscup R, Kalfas I, Young P, Rufo-Smith C. Spinal surgery in Parkinson’s patients: Implant failure and progressive kyphosis. Spine 29(18):2006-2012, 2004.

5.      Babat LB, Boden S. Biology of Spine Fusion. In Benzel E (ed): Spine Surgery: Techniques, Complication Avoidance, and Management. Philadelphia, Elsevier, 2004, pp 169-179.

6.      Babat LB, Benzel E, Papadopoulos SM. Revascularization and scar prevention: omental transposition and spine surgery. In Benzel E (ed): Spine Surgery: Techniques, Complication Avoidance, and Management. Philadelphia, Elsevier, 2004, pp 1202 - 1209.

7.      Babat L, Ehrlich M. A Paradigm for the Age-Related Treatment of Knee Dislocations in Larsen’s Syndrome. Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics 20(3): 396-401; 2000.

8.      Ehrlich M, Babat L. Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip. Oxford Textbook of Surgery. In Press, 1999.

9.      Panjabi M, Cholewicki J, Nibu K, Babat L, Dvorak J. Simulation of whiplash trauma using whole cervical spine specimens. Spine 23(1): 17-24; 1998.

10.  Panjabi MM, Cholewicki J, Nibu K, Grauer JN, Babat LB, Dvorak J. Mechanism of whiplash injury. Clinical Biomechanics 13(4-5):239-249; 1998.

11.  Panjabi MM, Cholewicki J, Nibu K, Grauer JN, Babat LB, Dvorak J. Critical load of the human cervical spine: an in vitro experimental study. Clinical Biomechanics 13(1):11-17; 1998.

12.  Panjabi M, Cholewicki J, Nibu K, Grauer J, Babat L, Dvorak J, Bar H. Biomechanics of whiplash injury. Orthopade 27(12): 813-9; 1998.

13.  Cholewicki J, Panjabi M, Nibu K, Babat L, Grauer J, Dvorak J. Head kinematics during in vitro whiplash simulation. Acid Anal Prev 30(4): 469-79; 1998.

14.  Nibu K, Cholewicki J, Panjabi M, Babat L, Grauer J, Kothe R, Dvorak J. Dynamic elongation of the vertebral artery during an in vitro whiplash simulation. European Spine Journal 6(4): 286-9; 1997.