Medical Education

1980: Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery, Baroda Medical College, Maharaja Sayaji Rao University, Baroda

Postgraduate Education

1985 : Master of Surgery (Orthopaedics) Baroda Medical College, Maharaja Sayaji Rao University, Baroda

Professional Positions

1985 to 1988 : Junior Consultant
P.D. Hinduja Sindhi Hospital, Bangalore

1989 to 1994 : Consultant Orthopaedic Spine Surgeon
Madras Institute of Orthopaedics & Traumatology, Vijaya Hospitals, Chennai

1994 till date: Consultant Spine Surgeon
Spine Service
Apollo Hospitals, Chennai

1989 - Resident in Spinal Surgery :Unit of Dr. D. Chopin
Department of Spinal Surgery , Institute Calot, Berck-sur-mer, France

1991 - Visiting Surgeon : Unit of Dr. N. Passuti
Clinique Chirurgicale Orthopedique Centre Hospitalier Regional
Et Universitaire de Nantes Hospital Saint – Jacques Nantes, France

1992 - A.O. Spine Fellowship : Unit of Prof. W. Dick
Orthopaeische Universitatsklinik
Felix-Platter-Spital, Basel, Switzerland

1993 - Visiting Surgeon :Unit of Prof. Kim
Spine Center Yongdong Severance Hospital
Seoul, South Korea

1995 - Harms Spine Fellowship :Unit of Prof. Harms
Spine Centre Klinikum, Karlsbad – Langensteinbach, Karlsbad, Germany

1995 - Visiting Surgeon :Unit of Dr. G. Tabasso
Clinica Orthopedica
University of Torino, Torino, Italy

1995 - Visiting Surgeon :Unit of Dr. Harry Shufflebarger
Chief Spine Surgeon
Division of Spinal Surgery
Department of Orthopaedics
1150, Campa Sano Avenue, Suite 300, Coral Gables, Florida, Miami 33146 USA

1997 - Visiting Surgeon :Unit of Prof. Kaneda
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Hokkaido University
School of medicine, Sapporo, Japan

1997 - Visiting Surgeon :Unit of Prof. Tomita
Department of Orthopedic Surgery
Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan

1998 - Visiting Surgeon :Unit of Dr. Henry Halm
Spine Unit, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Munster, Germany

1999 - Visiting Surgeon:Unit of Prof. Harms
Spine Centre
Klinikum, Karlsbad – Langensteinbach, Karlsbad, Germany

Membership of Professional Bodies, Associations

• Indian Orthopaedic Association (I.O.A)
• Association of Spine Surgeons of India (ASSI)
• Groupe Internationale COTREL DUBOUSSET (GICD)
• Spine trauma study group – USA

Fellowship of The National Board in Spine Surgery – Examiner, 2004

International Meets / Conferences

• International Congress on Cotrel-dubousset Instrumentation – Monte Carlo, in June 1989 – Participant

• C.D. Basic Course 1989 in Institut Calot, Berck-sur-mer, France – Participant

• International congress on Cotrel Dubousset Instrumentation – Minneapolis, in May 1991 – Participant

• C.D. Advanced Course 1991 in Institut Calot, Berck-sur-mer, France – Participant

• AO / ASIF Course Seminar in Madras Nov 1992 – Faculty

• 1 st International Symposium on Hip & Spine, Indo-German Orthopaedic Foundation in Nov 1992 – Faculty
• Surgical management of spinal deformitie

• Baroda Orthopaedic Association , April 1993 – Faculty
• Spinal Stabilization Techniques
• Cotrel Dubousset Instrumentation

• Tamil Nadu Ortopaedic Association in Jun 1993 – Faculty
• Lumbosacral Instability

• International workshop on Stabilization of the Spine , Madras Oct 1993 – Faculty
• Surgical Management of Scoliosis
• Management of Lumbo Sacral Instabilities

• Techniques & Concept of Spinal Surgery – Phuket Island, Thailand in 1997 – Participant

• ASSICON – 97 Chennai, India – Organising Secretary. Conducted and organized with a faculty of reputed Spine/Neuro surgeon from around the world

• Muller Course on Surgery of Paediatric Spine in Nov 1997 – Faculty
• Surgical Management of the deformed Spine – An Indian Experience

• ASSICON – 98 Patna, India – Faculty
• Surgical management of the deformed Spine
• The tension band principle and it’s applications in Spine Surgery

• Work shop on Spinal Stabilization 1998 at NIMS Hyderabad
• Performed a front-back live demonstration surgery for failed back surgery
Papers Presented

• Surgical Management of Spinal deformity
• Evolution of Spinal Instrumentation
• The Tension band principle & Its application in Spinal surgery

• “Down Under” with “Big Time Spine” – Coolum, Australia May 1999 - Faculty
• Surgical Management of the Deformed Spine – An Indian Experience
• Surgical Management of Tuberculosis of the Thoracic & Lumbar Spine

• The Royal London Hospital White Chapel, St. Bartholomews, London – Invited speaker
• Spinal deformity
• TB spine

• ASSICON – 1999 Hyderabad, India – Faculty
• Surgical management of deformed spine
• The tension band principle: Its role and application in spine surgery
• Surgical management of Spinal Tuberculosis

• AFORT – 1999 , Chennai, India – Faculty
• Surgical management of severe spinal deformity
• Surgical management of Koch’s Spine

• 9 th International conference on Lumbar Fusion & Stabilization – 1999 in Chesire, The United Kingdom – Participant

• Invited to talk at Khoula Hospital, Muscat and to perform surgeries at the Military Hospital in 1999

• The 3rd Annual international course on “Global Spine” – Surgical principles and the latest techniques , Maui, Hawaii, 1999 – Participant

• ASSICON – 2000 Bombay, India – Faculty
• Spinal Tuberculosis & Instrumentation

• IOACON – 2000 Hyderabad, India – Faculty
• The surgical management of complex spinal deformity

• 7 th GCC Orthopaedic conference , Kuwait, Feb 2000 – Faculty
• Surgical management of complex spinal deformity
• The tension band principle in Spine

• The 7 th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for the study of Surgical Techniques for Spine and Spinal Nerves , Japan, September 2000 - Faculty
• Operative treatment for Tubercular Spondylitis

• International symposium on Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery , Bern, Switzerland, December 2000, Participant

• ASSICON – 2001 , Delhi, India – Faculty
• Role of Instrumentation in the surgical correction of the deformed spine

• The 1st Annual International course on “Current Spine” – Advances in Techniques and Technology , Langkawi, Malaysia, Feb 2001, Course Co Director & Faculty
• Surgical Management of Spinal TB

• Visiting Surgeon to Armed Forces Hospital, Oman , June 2001

• The second annual international course on current spine (Advances in technique & technology Jan 30 – Feb 02, 2002 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Course Co-director & Faculty

• Instrumentation in Spinal Tuberculosis

• Global spine , July 12-14, 2002, Hawaii - Faculty
• High grade spondylolisthesis

• Spine trauma study group inaugural meeting, Los Angeles, Nov 7-10, 2002

• Spine trauma study group, Miami - May 2003

• MAST Workshop , Bordeaux, France – May 2003

• Second interdisciplinary congress on spine care – World Spine II, Chicago, Illinois; 10-13 August 2003
• Instrumentation in spinal tuberculosis

• Spine trauma study group, Sonoma, California, Sept. 4-6, 2003

• GSACON 2003, 5 th Annual conference, Gujarat Spine Association, Ahmedabad – Oct. 2003 - Faculty
• Congenital scoliosis
• Surgical management of spondylolisthesis
• Surgical management of severe spinal deformities

• Instructional lecture course of the Association of Spine Surgeons of India & European Spine society, Coimbator, India, Oct. 2003
• Surgical management of the severely deformed spine

• WIROC, Mumbai, 29 th Nov 2003 - Faculty
• Surgical Management of Dorso-lumbar Junctional lesions

• 48 th Annual Conference of Indian Orthopaedic Association - Dec. 2003, Chennai - Faculty
• Implants in the surgical management of spinal tuberculosis

• Annual conference of the Association of spine surgeons of India (ASSICON), 23-25 Jan 2004, Pune, India – Faculty
• Surgical management of multilevel disc degeneration
• Live Surgical demonstration of TLIF (Kidney cage) and PLIF (R-90) with instrumentation in 2 level disc degeneration

• Annual conference of Tamilnadu Orthopedic Association, 13-14 Feb 2004, Nagarkoil, Tamilnadu– Faculty
• The case for anterior surgery in multilevel cervical disc disease

• ISICON (International Spinal Injuries Conference), Delhi, 11th – 13th March 2004– Faculty
• Surgical Management of Severe Rigid Deformities
• Complications of Spinal Surgery in Ankylosing Spondylitis
• Complications of Spinal Surgery in Children
• Intervertebral Cages in Lumbar Spine – Biomechanics & Indications

• Spine Trauma Study Group, Denver, Colorado, 13-14 May 2004

• Workshop on the Sextant, Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery at the MERI, Memphis 16th May 2004

• BOA International Congress , Manchester- September 2004

• Surgical Management of High Grade Spondylolisthesis

• EFORT (European Federation of Orthopaedics and Traumatology) Amsterdam, Netherlands; September 2004 –Invited faculty

• Surgical Management of High Grade Spondylolisthesis
• Surgical Management of Tuberculosis of the Dorso-lumbar Spine

• Combined Orthopedic Congress of English Speaking Countries , Sydney, Australia – October 2004

• Instrumentation in Spinal Tuberculosis

• ASSICON , Bangalore, India, Jan 2005 – Faculty

• Surgical management of severely deformed spine
• New horizons in spinal surgery – spinal arthroplasty

• EFORT (European Federation of Orthopaedics and Traumatology), Lisbon, Portugal– June 2005

• The high grade spondylolisthesis in children – surgical management

• SRS – Asia pacific , Korea – Aug 2005
• Anterior correction of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis using single solid rod.

Course / Workshop Organised

The First COTREL-DUBOUSSET basic course and workshop in India, with

Dr. N. Passuti as co-course Director May 1991

The First workshop on Moss – Miami / Moss / Titanium mesh system with Dr. Harry Shufflebarger and Prof. Harms in 1995

Under print: Instrumentation in spinal tuberculosis.

This article (full version) has been officially accepted for publication in the Spine Journal (official journal of NASS)

Some comments on my spine work

• I have pioneered the use of many modern instrumentation systems, for Example, the Cotrel – Dubousset, the Moss Miami, The Ray cages (PLIF), the BAK cages and the Harms Mesh Systems in India

• My present repertoire of work covers almost the entire gamut of spinal disorders and includes deformity, low back, tumor, trauma, Infection & cervical spine surgery

• In deformity surgery, I have successfully managed a wide range of deformities from mild to the very severe using back, front back, multiple staged interventions. I am quite at home in the use of anterior as well as posterior instrumentation systems

• In the low back, I routinely tackle a variety of problems ranging from disk prolapse, to spondylolisthesis, failed back and salvage situations. I do complicated revision surgeries for instability and sagittal malalignment using back-front-back techniques in the same sitting. I am familiar with PLIF (BAK – cages), TLIF (Harms technique) and global fusion techniques

• I have tackled variety of tumors including benign (eg. Hemangioma) and malignant (primary, secondary). I am familiar with vertebrectomy techniques and reconstruction using cages, grafts, etc.

• I have tackled trauma using a wide variety of approaches concepts and implant systems, from the front and back

• I’m frequently invited nationally as well as internationally to conduct workshops on modern spinal techniques and perform live demonstration surgeries.

• Teaching responsibility
• Guide in the DNB teaching program
• Spine fellowships – training of aspiring spine surgeons from India and abroad

• I am credited with introducing Arthroplastic reconstruction of the lumbar and cervical discs with artificial discs in India.

A first for an Indian spine surgeon:

I have designed in collaboration with a international spine company, a comprehensive spinal instrumentation system for anterior fixation in a variety of spinal problems including spinal deformities, tumors, infections and injuries. The system is awaiting FDA clearance and will be marketed internationally.