| |
Doctors at Apollo Hospitals in Chennai, India have used bio-resorbable screws for surgery on a six-year-old child, recently.
"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, said.
She said doctors chose the innovative surgical procedure after the child Maureen Richard Shirima from 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 vertebrae, 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.
