Over 400 attend spinal injury meet

A three-day international spine and spinal injury conference (ISSICON 2009) started at the department of orthopaedics, Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, on Sunday, with more than 400 delegates from India, Germany, USA, UK, Bangladesh and Nepal coming for the meet.

The first day started with a hands-on workshop on cadaveric spine, where minimally invasive techniques in spine surgery were demonstrated and practised by delegates in three separate sessions.

Dr Jens Timmerman from Germany, a pioneer in percutaneous lumbar discectomy, deomstrated his original technique of excision of disc without giving surgical incision to the delegates. Prof Patrik Kluger from Germany shared his experience in closed reduction of the dislocated cervical spine which is a life threatening injury. Dr. Hans Joseph Erli shared his experience of treatment of spinal problems using minimally invasive techniques. Prof Raj Bahadur from GMCH Chandigarh spoke on the complex injuries of the cervical spine where he demonstrated the technique of treatment of cervical PIVD and cervical pedicle screws- a new and emerging surgical technique.

Prof Arvind Jayaswal from AIIMS, New Delhi discussed the current trends and future directions of the surgical dissection, metallurgical advances and role of molecular technology in the management of spinal injuries.

Besides, video demonstrations of various surgical techniques were demonstrated by eminent national and international surgeons including Dr SK Abbas Uddin from Bangladesh, Vicky Sigworth and Dr Shankracharya. Dr HS Chhabra from Indian Spinal Injuries Center, New Delhi presented his experience of posterior approach alone for the correction of kyphotic deformities.