Chennai: Apollo Hospitals here has used
bio-resorbable screws for surgery recently on six-year-old
child.
"Conducted on 24 October, the success of this surgery
claimed another turning point for patient welfare in Indian
medical history since unlike routinely used metal alloy
implants, the bio-resorbable screws don't need to be removed
at a later stage as they are absorbed by the body", Dr
Sathyabhama, Director — Medical Services, Apollo Hospitals,
told reporters here.
She said doctors opted for the novel surgical procedure
after the child Maureen Richard Shirima of Tanzania was
admitted with a congenital anomaly of the lower spine and
spinal cord.
"The anomaly was particularly unusual since the child had
a low-lying spinal cord with tethering due to lipoma (benign
tumour) in filum terminale (a slender, threadlike prolongation
of the spinal cord from the conus medullaris to the back of
the coccyx) which was asymptomatic", Dr Sajan K Hegde, senior
consultant spine surgeon, Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, said.
"The child had associated spondylolysis on both sides of
the L5 verterbrae, which was symptomatic and causing back
pain. The surgery involved de-tethering of cord by excision of
filum terminale and fixation of the spondylolysis.", he said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 00:35