Spine fracture operation completed in one day under local anesthesia
Medical team of spinal surgeons, led by Dr. Milenko Savić, a specialist of neurosurgery and spinal surgery of the Atlas general hospital for the first time in Serbia performed a complete endoscopic correction of deformities of the spine which is the most modern type of spine operative treatment in the world.
We asked some questions to Atlas General Hospital expert, Dr. Milenko Savić neurosurgeon whose specialty is spinal instrumentation surgery:
Is it possible to treat spine under local anesthesia and with one hospital day?
“The answer is YES. This procedure was carried out in November this year at Atlas General Hospital.
The patient was a man who had hormonal imbalance and osteoporosis and he suffered a spine vertebra fracture after a minimum load. The next day the patient was pain-free and he was moving normally, and the same day of intervention he was released home.
Are there any taboos related to diseases of the spine injury?
“The answer is YES. When someone breaks the spine, it is usually said that this is the end, that it is a disaster, that person will no longer be able to function as before, he will remain disabled for life. With modern technology, with the experience that we have, injuries and spinal diseases are no longer unsolvable problem.”
Is there a progress in technical and technological terms, when we talk about spine surgery?
“The answer is yes, there has been remarkable progress in spinal surgery. Today we have new type of implants, new artificial discs, dynamic discs, the most modern type of cement that can be safely injected into the spine “.
Are there enough and adequate information about this that are available to the patients and doctors?
“This is a very good question. Unfortunately there is not enough information available and this is an opportunity to get some information to the patients and doctors about the innovation in field of spinal surgery innovations in this branch of medicine so we could try to take down the taboos related to diseases of the spine. I give instructions to my patients to come to Atlas general hospital where they can solve any issue related to the spinal cord. ”
Are Serbian health care institutions included adequately in progress and global trend in spinal surgery?
“Yes. Practically all the things that are present in world in field of spine surgery, we also perform in Atlas clinic. We have excellent cooperation with foreign clinics. ”
Dr Milenko Savić
Except Dr. Milenko Savić, in Serbia no one else performs operations of vertebroplasty , or operation of spine fractures under local anesthesia.
We would like to speak about some of the innovative interventions that we perform in our Spinal Center:
Correcting the spine in children through an 3 cm incision
At the Atlas General Hospital we perform minimally invasive surgery in children’s deformities. In a number of patients it can be done full spine correction through single 3 cm incision on the lateral side of the chest.
Two months ago, we performed the operation on 14 year old girl. The initial diagnosis was a scoliosis of the spine. The spine is fully straighten, and the operation incision is already unrecognizable.
Scoliosis is a problem that affects the younger generation mostly in adolescent period when rapid growth is present (the child’s spine starts to curve, but has no pain). The most common are idiopathic scoliosis that are present more 4 times more often in girls than boys. The real reason for the disease is not known, but etiology is usually related to hormonal status, heredity … hence the name for the disease is idiopathic.
Dynamic stabilization of spine – replacement of artificial discus
With aging discus sometimes becomes damaged and instead of that damaged discus it is being installed artificial one, so that the spine after surgery remains completely mobile.
This operation is done at the cervical and lumbar spine. At the Atlas General Hospital it has been performed 10 such operations over just one week.
Spinal surgery in children includes tumor surgery, injuries and deformities, but in adults it is performed on injuries, tumors and deformities even infection as well as pain therapy.
Pain therapy
Pain therapy, pain relief that is performed on time for physicians of is one of the most important, but also the most common and complex task.
We perform, beside routine procedures for pain therapy, implantation of spinal cord stimulation (SCS).
Spinal cord stimulation for pain therapy is used for spinal injuries, limb injuries, postoperative pain or pain of unknown origin.
Spinal cord stimulator (SCS) in simplest form, consists of a pulse generator with its remote controls, implanted stimulating electrodes and conducting wires connecting the electrodes to the generator.
It can also be used in cancers depending on the severity and degree of the expected length of life.
