Physician Bios

George V. Kakoulides, MD, FAANS, FACS

Fellowship-trained Neurological Surgeon

Dr. George Kakoulides is a Board Certified NeuroSurgeon who has successfully treated thousands of patients across Long Island, where he was born and raised. Dr. Kakoulides specializes in the management of spinal and cranial disorders with offices in West Islip, Huntington, and Smithtown, New York. He has advanced specialization in both minimally invasive and complex spine surgery of the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine.

Dr. Kakoulides prioritizes thoughtful, individualized treatment based on a patient's diagnosis, lifestyle and goals. When plausible, he supports exploring effective alternatives to surgery, such as epidural injections, acupuncture, yoga and chiropractic treatment.  When a patient does require surgery, Dr. Kakoulides offers a full spectrum of surgical procedures that range from minimally invasive surgery to complex spinal reconstruction. 

The patient's experience is of utmost importance to Dr. Kakoulides and he is currently pioneering ways in which to enrich this experience from the clinic, to the hospital and to home. Through his research in a landmark study published in The Annals of Surgery that led to the creation of IKONA, a company that utilizes immersive technology to transform the patients journey, Dr. Kakoulides has shown how the patient experience can play a role in the recovery process. As co-founder of IKONA he is now helping to train the next generation of healthcare professionals. Dr. Kakoulides also routinely attends seminars and conferences and is versed in the most up-to-date surgical techniques and has additional expertise in the management of benign and malignant brain tumors as well as radiosurgery.

Dr. Kakoulides completed his residency in neurological surgery at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, where he obtained advanced training in complex spine surgery during a year-long spine fellowship. Prior to that, he obtained his medical degree with high honors from Tufts University School of Medicine, where he also pursued a joint master’s degree in international relations at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Dr. Kakoulides is board certified and a member of numerous local and national medical and neurosurgical societies, including the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

Publications

• K. Bekelis, S. Missios, G. Kakoulides, R. Rahmani, N. Simmons. Selection of Patients for Ambulatory Lumbar Discectomy: Results from Four US States. Spine Journal, 2014 Sep 1;14(9):1944-50
• Hemicraniectomy in Malignant MCA Infarctions – To Halve or Halve Not. Stroke Conference, Good Samaritan Hospital, October 16, 2014
• The Association of Regional Intensity of Neurosurgical Care with Spinal Fusion Surgery in the United States. AANS 2014 Annual Scientific Meeting, San Francisco, CA, April 5-9, 2014
• Selection of Patients for Ambulatory Lumbar Discectomy: Results from Four US States. CNS 2013 Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, October 19-23, 2013
• Motor and Somatosensory Evoked Potential Monitoring during Aneurysm Surgery.
• The AANS 79h Annual Scientific Meeting, Denver, CO, April 9-13, 2011
• Neurosurgery Research Symposium, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, June 15, 2012

Over the past 20 years, the spine physicians at Spine Care Long Island have been the preferred back doctor for low back pain and neck pain patients from across Long Island, from the North Shore and South Shore of Nassau County and Suffolk County, and from Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn to the East End. Those with back pain or neck pain often struggle to find a back doctor or spine center that can provide a second opinion for spine surgery and offer nonsurgical treatment for back pain, neck pain, scoliosis (curvature of the spine) and pain symptoms related to a herniated disc. Spine Care Long Island is a regional spine center that provides spinal injections, minimally invasive spine surgery, artificial disc surgery and other advances in spine care.