Patients have to wait 3 years for spinal surgery at AIIMS

● Lack of adequate infrastructure and specialised hands to perform surgeries are the main reasons behind the long waiting period, neurosurgeon Sumit Sinha says

Patients have to wait for around three years for corrective surgery for spinal deformity at the country’s premier health institute, AIIMS. Lack of adequate infrastructure and specialised hands to perform surgeries are the main reasons behind the long waiting period, AIIMS trauma centre neurosurgeon Sumit Sinha says.

The centre treats around 700 patients with spinal deformity annually and those that need surgeries are given dates after three years. “At AIIMS, there are only a few specialists who have expertise in conducting corrective surgeries for spinal deformity and which lead to a long waiting period. Apart from a lack of adequate experts, a large turnout of patients at AIIMS for treatment is another major reason for the long waiting period. In the absence of proper health facilities, a lot of patients are referred to AIIMS for specialised treatment,” Dr Sinha says.

He advised that early detection and treatment is key to curing spinal deformity. “Spinal deformity can lead to a simple problem in walking straight to a complicated neurologi- cal problem,” he said.

Dr Sinha said that to reduce the long waiting period, AIIMS has decided to expand the existing facilities. “The AIIMS authority has approved opening of a dedicated spine centre to treat patients with spinal problem like deformity or other medical spinal complications. More beds have also approved for patients suffering from spine problems,” he added.

For more accurate spinal surgeries, AIIMS is in the process of acquiring robots. “Robotic surgeries are more accurate and AIIMS is in the process of acquiring robots to perform surgery. One robot system will cost between ` 15 to 20 crore,” said Dr Sinha.

He was speaking on the sidelines of AIIMS’ annual spine workshop attended by spinal surgeons, orthopaedic surgeons and neurosurgeons from across the country and abroad.

The workshop focused on training spinal surgeons about safe spinal surgery practices and spinal instrumentation techniques. It aimed to cover a wide variety of operative procedures including live surgeries and treatment of various spinal diseases.