Apollo Hospitals conducts India’s first surgery to cure spine curvature
The Chennai-based Apollo International Hospitals has performed yet another landmark surgery that has literally transformed the life of an Australian child. The first of its kind in India, the surgery technique can cure abnormal sideward curvature of the spine in adolescents using the revolutionary Non-Fusion Anterior Scoliosis Correction Technique.
Apollo Hospitals Chennai's Dr Sajan K Hegde led the team for the medical operation referred to as the Minimally Invasive Double Curve Correction, said a press release.
The condition is called Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis or AIS. It involves an abnormal "S" Shaped double curvature of the spine, resulting in severe back pain and can affect the normal functioning of heart and lungs.
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Previously the surgery was done using implants. The mobility of the spine at the implanted level gets completely lost and the zone becomes stiff. But the new procedure poses no such risk as deformity is cured through correction of bone alignment rather than new and artificial fusions among the bones using implants.
Speaking about the revolutionary procedure, Dr Sajan K Hegde, said, "This new procedure allows the children to return back to full normal activities including sports and gymnastics."
The patient was Xavia, a 13 year-old girl from Brisbane, Australia. Her mother first spotted an unusual change in her movements. Soon Xavia started to feel pain in her spine while the deformity started to grow, rendering her incapable of doing regular activities.
Soon her parents started looking for an expert surgeon and physicians from different countries referred them to the Chennai branch of Apollo Hospitals.
At present, Xavia is under physiotherapy, her posture has improved her ribcage, trunk and shoulders are aligned and getting better. She is back to normal day-to-day activity.
Usually seen in young girls aged 8-12 year, Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis affects two to three per cent of children between the ages of 10 and 18, a time when the human body is growing at its most rapid pace.
