Mumbai: For the first time in India, a team of doctors at a city hospital here have successfully performed minimal access spine surgery on a 82-year-old Ankylosing Spondylitis patient.
The surgery was carried out by doctors at the Global Hospitals in Mumbai, one of the fastest growing chains of tertiary care, multi-super specialty and multi-organ transplant hospitals in India.
Achieving a rare feat in spinal surgery, the team performed the operation by implanting 14 screws in the spinal cord.
Ankylosing Spondylitis, commonly known as Bamboo Spine is a form of rheumatic arthritis which is associated with long-term inflammation of the joints in the spine.
Symptoms include pain and stiffness from the neck down to the lower back. The spine’s bones (vertebrae) may grow or fuse together, resulting in a rigid spine. At times these changes might be severe, and may lead to a stooped-over posture.
The 82 year old patient having Ankylosing Spondylitis had a fall in November 2014. Post the fall he was constantly complaining of excruciating back pain. In February 2015, he became totally bed ridden and was paralysed in the legs.
