Neurosurgery & complex spine · Topeka, Kansas
Chad Tuchek, MD — Neurosurgeon and Spine Surgeon in Topeka, Kansas
Dr. Chad Tuchek is a neurosurgeon and spine surgeon practicing at Cotton O'Neil Neurosurgery and Spine Center in Topeka, Kansas. He sees patients at the Kanza Park clinic and performs surgery at Stormont Vail Health. His practice covers complex spine disorders, brain and spine tumors, and nerve compression, and patients travel from across northeast Kansas — Lawrence, Manhattan, Emporia, and Junction City among them.
He is fellowship-trained in neurosurgical oncology at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, completed his neurological surgery residency at the University of Kansas Medical Center, and earned his M.D. at Indiana University School of Medicine.
From engineering to neurosurgery
Dr. Tuchek started out as an engineering student at Purdue University. At 26 he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer — and the experience of being the patient, rather than the person solving the problem, redirected him into medicine.
He also builds software for recovery tracking — EasySpine, by SpineOS: a free iPhone app (currently a TestFlight beta) and web portal that logs daily pain, walking from Apple Health, wound photos, and ODI/NDI scores. It is self-guided by default and never a substitute for calling the clinic.
Disclosure: Dr. Tuchek developed EasySpine and has a financial interest in SpineOS.
EasySpine is not monitored in real time and is never a substitute for calling the clinic or 911.
What he treats
His clinical focus is neurosurgical oncology and complex spine: brain and spinal tumors, cervical and lumbar degenerative disease, spinal stenosis and nerve compression, spinal deformity, fractures, and disorders of the cranial and peripheral nerves.
His practice includes robot-assisted spine surgery.
The conditions library on this site works through these problems one at a time — what the condition is, what is tried before surgery, and when an operation becomes the right answer.
Training and education
- Fellowship: Neurosurgical Oncology & Robotics
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center - Residency: Neurological Surgery
University of Kansas Medical Center - Medical School: M.D.
Indiana University School of Medicine (2016) - Undergraduate: Engineering
Purdue University
Research
Dr. Tuchek has contributed to peer-reviewed neurosurgical research, including work published in Neuro-Oncology, Neurosurgery Clinics, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, on extent of resection in IDH-mutant glioma, translational approaches to malignant glioma, and perioperative care after microvascular decompression.
Where he practices
Clinic visits happen at Cotton O'Neil Neurosurgery and Spine Center, Cotton O'Neil Kanza Park, 2660 SW 3rd St, Topeka, KS 66606. That is the only office.
Surgery is performed at Stormont Vail Health, 1500 SW 10th Ave — the operating hospital, not a second clinic location.