Meet Our Team

Rajesh G. Arakal

MD
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info@texasback.com

972-608-5000

Locations

Plano

6020 W Parker Rd., Suite 200, Plano, TX 75093

Wichita Falls

501 Midwestern Pkwy. E, Wichita Falls, TX 76302

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Practicing Locations: Plano | Witchita Falls

Specialty: Spine Surgery

Fellowship Training: Spinal Surgery

Certification: Certified – American Board of Orthopedic Surgery

Dr. Arakal’s Personal Quote:

“I dedicate my practice exclusively to the thorough evaluation and treatment of cervical, thoracic, and lumbar pathology. When required, surgical treatments are tailored to meet patients needs.”

Rajesh G. Arakal, M.D. is fellowship trained in Spinal Surgery from Baylor College of Medicine and the Texas Medical Center in Houston, under Michael Heggeness, M.D., Ph.D., specializing in cervical, thoracic, and lumbar pathology. Dr. Arakal graduated from a highly competitive and accelerated 7- year combined program from The New Jersey Medical School. He stayed on for Orthopaedic surgical training at the Level I Trauma Center at the University Hospitals of New Jersey Medical School. He has received advanced clinical instruction at Washington University with Larry Lenke, M.D., Arizona Institute for Minimally Invasive Surgery with Anthony Yeung, M.D., and at the Klinic Karlsbad, Germany with Jurgen Harms. Dr. Arakal has been significantly involved in the development of the Spine Trauma Protocols, Spine Service Line, and for the direct surgical care of acute spinal cord, spinal injuries, and scoliosis at the Regional Level I Trauma Center at Medical City Plano. Dr. Arakal is a Fellow in the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons. He served as the Spine Consultant for the Michael Johnson Athletic Performance Center for the treatment of college and professional athletes. Dr. Arakal has been a partner and associate of the Texas Back Institute since 2007, is part of the teaching faculty for the spine fellowship program, and the Center for Orthopaedics and Spine Surgery, a Texas Health Resources affiliate. Dr. Arakal served as the Director of Ortho Spine from 2010-2015 and now serves as the Director of Complex Spine Surgery at Medical City Plano. In 2020 he served as Chief of the Department of Surgery at Medical City Plano. Dr. Arakal is a reviewer for the International Journal of Spine Surgery.

  • Specialized training at the Klinic Karlsbad, Germany with Jurgen Harms for Cervical stabilization and Lumbar reconstructive procedures.
  • 2004-2005 Spine Surgery Fellowship, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas Medical Center (Methodist Hospital, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, Michael Debakey VA Hospital, Texas Children’s Hospital, Ben Taub General Hospital) (Chief of Service: Michael Heggeness, M.D., Ph.D.)
  • 2000-2004 Orthopedic Surgery Residency, New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey (Chief of Service: Fred F. Behrens, M.D.)
  • 1999-2000 General Surgery Internship, University Hospital, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey
  • 1999 M.D., New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey
  • 1995 B.S., Honors Program, College of New Jersey, Ewing, New Jersey
  • Voted one of America’s Most Compassionate Doctors in 2011
  • D Magazine Best Doctors: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023
  • Texas Monthly Super Doctor – Rising Star: 2013, 2014
  • Texas Monthly Super Doctor: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022
  • Director of Orthopedic Spine, Medical Center of Plano
  • Spine Trauma physician at regional level II Trauma Center
  • Clinical Instruction, Minimally Invasive Selective Endoscopic Discectomy, Arthroscopic Approaches to the Spinal Column, Anthony Yeung, M.D., Clinical Assistant Professor, University of California, San Diego, Arizona Institute of Minimally Invasive Surgery, San Diego, California
  • October 2007 Clinical Instruction, Complex Spinal Deformity, Lawrence Lenke, M.D., Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
  • Spine Consultant, Michael Johnson Athletic Performance Center at Craig Ranch, McKinney, Texas
  • Sub-investigator, Advent Cervical Disc Arthroplasty Study
  • Co-Investigator, Intradiscal Regeneration Study, Johnson & Johnson
  • Fellow, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons
  • Lead Orthopedic Spine Surgeon, Providence St. Peters Hospital, tertiary referral center, Olympia, Washington
  • Post-Doctoral Spine Fellowship, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Medical Center, Houston, Texas
  • Assistant Orthopedic Faculty, Ben Taub Orthopedic Clinics, Houston, Texas
  • Assistant Faculty, Michael Debakey VA, Houston, Texas
  • Resident Role Model and Teaching Excellence Award, Gold Foundation, University Hospital, New Jersey Medical School (NJMS)
  • Alumni Scholar, New Jersey Medical School (NJMS)
  • Alumni Research Fellowship Award, New Jersey Medical School (NJMS)
  • Deans Achievement, New Jersey Medical School (NJMS)
  • Edward Bloustein Garden State Scholar
  • Trustee Scholar, College of New Jersey
  • Graduated Magna Cum Laude, College of New Jersey
  • Combined Accelerated 7-year Bachelor in Science and Doctorate in Medicine
  • First Student to Finish the Honors Degree in Three Years in College History, College of New Jersey
  • Outstanding Award in Research Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the South Central Regional Chapter of the American Society of Biomechanics April 2019
  • 1st Place Clinical Research Award Paper at the 2018 Cervical Spine Research Society December 2018
  • Reviewer, International Journal of Spine Surgery
  • Chief, Department of Surgery, Medical Center of Plano (2020 to present)

As world-renowned leaders in the field of neck and back care, Texas Back Institute doctors are continuously writing and presenting professional articles, publications, and speaking engagements to national and international audiences.

PUBLICATIONS
  1. Harten RD, Lee FY, Zimmerman MC, Hurowitz E, Arakal R, Behrens FF. Regional and Temporal Changes in the Acoustic Properties of Fracture Callus in Secondary Bone Healing, J Ortho Res 15(4):570-576, 1997.
  2. Haddas R, Lieberman IH, Arakal R, Boah A, Belanger T, Ju KL. (2019) Effect of Cervical Decompression Surgery on Gait in Adult Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Patients. Clinical Spine Surgery; 31(10): 435-40. DOI: 10.1097/BSD.0000000000000719
  3. Haddas R, Lieberman IH, Boah A, Arakal R, Belanger T, Ju KL. (2019) Functional Balance Testing in Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Patients. Spine; 44(2): 103-109. DOI: 10.1097/BRS.0000000000002768
  4. Haddas R, Patel S, Arakal R, Boah AO, Belanger T, Ju KL. (2018) Spine and Lower Extremity Kinematics during Gait in Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Patients. The Spine Journal; 18(9): 1645-1652. DOI: 10.1016/j.spinee.2018.04.006
BOOK AND BOOK CHAPTERS

1. Arakal R, et al. Cervical Trauma. In: Garfin S, Bono C (eds): Essentials of Spine. Lippincott, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 2004.

2. Arakal RG: Anatomy of the Normal and Aging Spine. In: Yue JJ, Guyer RD, Johnson JP, Khoo LT, Hochschuler SH (eds): The Comprehensive Treatment of the Aging Spine: Minimally Invasive and Advanced Techniques. Elsevier, in press.

PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLISHED ABSTRACTS

1. Harten RD, Lee FY, Zimmerman MC, Hurowitz E, Arakal R, Behrens FF. Regional and Temporal Changes in Acoustic Properties of Fracture Callus in Secondary Bone Healing. Orthopaedic Research Society. 1996; Atlanta, Georgia.

2. Harten RD, Zimmerman MC, Arakal R, Behrens FF. Effect of Physiologic Dynamic Compression on Distraction Osteogenesis. 43rd Annual Meeting of Orthopaedic Research Society. February, 1997; San Francisco, California.

3. Haddas R, Lieberman IH, Boah A, Belanger T, Ju K, Arakal R. The Effect of Surgical Decompression on Functional Balance Tests in Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Patients. 19th Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS), Anaheim, California, USA, April 2019.
4. Haddas R, Hochschuler S, Boah A, Arakal R, Belanger T, Ju KL. Functional Balance Testing in Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Patients. 18th Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS), Toronto, Canada, April 2018.
5. Haddas R, Cox J, Arakal R, Belanger T, Ju KL. Neuromuscular Activity during Gait in Patients with Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Compared to Controls. 18th Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS), Toronto, Canada, April 2018.
6. Haddas R, Arakal R, Belanger T, Boah A, Ju KL. The Effect of Cervical Decompression on Gait in Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Patients. 18th Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS), Toronto, Canada, April 2018.
7. Haddas R, Arakal R, Belanger T, Boah A, Ju KL. Spine Kinematics during Gait in of Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Patients Post Cervical Surgery. 18th Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS), Toronto, Canada, April 2018.
8. Haddas R, Arakal R, Belanger T, Boah A, Ju KL. Effect of Cervical Surgery on Neuromuscular Activity during Gait in Patients with Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy .18th Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS), Toronto, Canada, April 2018.
9. Haddas R, Arakal R, Aghyarian S, Belanger B. Gait Analysis on Adult Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Surgical Patients. 17th Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS), Boca Raton, FL, USA, April 2017.
10. Haddas R, Arakal R, Belanger T, Boah A. Cervical Decompression Surgery Improves Dynamic Balance in Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Patients. North American Spine Society 34th Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, September 2019.
11. Haddas R, Arakal R, Belanger T, Boah A, Kosztowski T, Perez Y, Derman P. The Effect of Surgical Decompression on Spine and Lower Extremity Range of Motion during Gait in Patients with Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy. North American Spine Society 34th Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, September 2019.
12. Haddas R, Lieberman I, Boah AO, Belanger T, Ju KL, Arakal R. Effect of Cervical Decompression Surgery on Spine and Lower Extremity Biomechanics in Adult Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Patients. The Cervical Spine Research Society, Scottsdale, AZ, December 2018. 1st Place Clinical Research Award Paper at the 2018.
13. Haddas R, Hur P, Pan Y, Lieberman I, Belanger T, Arakal R. The Effect of Surgical Alignment on Standing Balance in Adult Deformity Patients – Invariant Density Approach. North American Spine Society 33th Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, September 2018.
14. Haddas R, Lieberman IH, Belanger T, Boah A, Hochschuler SH, Ju K, Arakal R. Altered Balance in Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Patients Compared to Controls.  North American Spine Society 33th Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, September 2018.
15. Haddas R, Belanger T, Boah A, Ju K, Arakal R, Cox J. Neuromuscular Activity during Gait in Patients with Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy. North American Spine Society 33th Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, September 2018.
16. Haddas R, Belanger T, Ju KL, Arakal R, Boah AO. Effect of Cervical Decompression Surgery On Gait In Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Patients. The Cervical Spine Research Society, Hollywood, FL, December 2017.
17. Haddas R, Belanger T, Ju KL, Patel S, Arakal R. Altered Ground Reaction Forces in Adult Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Compared to Controls. North American Spine Society 32th Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, October 2017.
18. Haddas R, Belanger T, Ju KL, Patel S, Arakal R. Effect of Cervical Decompression Surgery on Gait in Adult Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Patients. North American Spine Society 32th Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, October 2017.
19. Haddas R, Ju KL, Arakal R, Belanger T. Effect of Cervical Decompression Surgery on Gait in Adult Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Patients. Gait and Clinical Movement Analysis Society Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, May 2017
20. Sanchez P, Perez Y, Arakal R, Belanger T, Kosztowski T, Boah A, Derman P, Haddas R. The Effect of Cervical Decompression Surgery on Spine and Lower Extremity Range of Motion During Gait and Tandem Gait in Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Patients. Annual meeting of the South Central Regional Chapter of the American Society of Biomechanics, Plano, TX, USA, April 2019. Recipient of the Outstanding Award in Research Presentation.
21. Cox J, Arakal R, Belanger T, Ju K, Haddas R. Electromyographic Differences during Gait in Patients with Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Compared to Healthy Controls. Annual meeting of the South Central Regional Chapter of the American Society of Biomechanics, Dallas, TX, USA, April 2018.
22. Patel S, Arakal R, Belanger T, Ju K, Haddas R. Preoperative Spatiotemporal and Ground Reaction Forces during Gait Compared between Adult Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy and Controls.  Annual meeting of the South Central Regional Chapter of the American Society of Biomechanics, Plano, TX, USA, April 2017.
23. Haddas R, Arakal R, Belanger T, Boah A. The Effect of Surgical Decompression on Functional Balance Tests in Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Patients. Gait and Clinical Movement Analysis Society 2019 Meeting, Frisco, TX, March 2019.
24. Haddas R, Arakal R, Boah, A, Belanger T, Ju KL. Functional Balance Testing in Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Patients. Gait and Clinical Movement Analysis Society 2018 Meeting, Indianapolis, IN, May 2018.
25. Haddas R, Patel S, Arakal R, Belanger T, Ju KL. Effect of Cervical Decompression Surgery on Biomechanics on Neuromuscular Control during Gait in Adult Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Patients. 41th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics, Boulder, CO, August 2017.
26. Haddas R, Arakal R, Aghyarian S, Belanger T. Gait Analysis on Adult Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Surgical Patients. Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) 2017 annual meeting, San Diego, CA, March 2017.

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