Spine surgeons of India, Japan, Canada to hold sessions during 3-day event

New Delhi, August 26

Amid rise in spine-related issues during the coronavirus pandemic, a team of medical experts drawn from India, Japan and Canada will hold live surgeries and thematic sessions as part of a three-day event, organisers said on Thursday.

There will be 25 international and over 50 doctors from India who will join the event to be held online by the Association of Spinal Surgeons of India (ASSI) in partnership with Spinal Cord Society and Indian Spinal Injuries Centre (ISIC), they said.

As the cases of spine-related issues have gone up during the ongoing pandemic, ASSI is all set to organise instructional courses in spine and live spine surgeries as part of a three-day virtual event starting from August 27, it said in a statement.

The programme, titled ‘Degenerative Spine: Basic to advanced management’, will be attended by 25 international experts from Japan and Canada along with over 50 Indian doctors, the organisers said.

There will be six master class sessions on MISS using tubular retractors, complications in cervical spine surgery, cervical disc replacement (CDR), degenerative scoliosis, cervicothoracic junction and surgical radiology.

This will be followed by 36 case-based discussions on degenerative thoracic myelopathy, degenerative cervical myelopathy, spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis, failed back syndrome among others, the statement said.

The Japanese Society for Spine Surgery and Related Research (JSSR) and Canadian Spine Society will join the event, the statement said.

Twelve live surgeries will be performed by surgeons and experts from ISIC, it added.

“Inactive lifestyle during the pandemic, followed by faulty everyday habits, such as poor posture, carrying heavy bags, improper chairs are major contributors to spine-related issues. In this knowledge-sharing event among Indian, Japanese and Canadian surgeons , we will be discussing some of the advancements in the field,” said Dr Shankar Acharya, president, ASSI.

The aim of the online workshop is to discuss at length the future of spine surgery by touching upon technological and biological advances on the horizon that will work in concert with minimally-invasive techniques, such as computer-assisted image-guided technology, among others, the statement said.

“This is the first time ASSI is teaming up with Canadian and Japanese experts to have an exchange of knowledge among the three countries,” said Dr H S Chhabra, ex-president, ASSI and chief of spine services at ISIC. — PTI