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EXPERIENCE THE FUTURE OF OPERATING ROOM TECHNOLOGY With CuratOR, EIZO offers complete solutions consisting of products and software for interventional radiology, the control room and the integrated OR. To find out more about our new products, visit our booth at MEDICA Hall 10/H41 New at MEDICA: www.healthcare-in-europe.com 13SURGERY Spine ops terrorise surgeons no more‘Spinal surgery has become even gen- tler and more effective in the past years,’ says Professor Claudius Thomé MD, director of the Neurosurgical Clinic at the Medical University Innsbruck (Austria). Increasing atten- tion is being given to preserving the anatomical structures, such as in the discs or even the muscles surround- ing the spine.‘In particular, minimally invasive procedures involving tiny incisions to provide relief of the spi- nal canal, or fusion, are increasingly common,’ emphasised Thomé, who is also president of the Austrian Society for Spinal Surgery (ÖGW). Applying minimal access spine technology (MAST), the target area is usually reached gently by means of trocar systems (puncturing instruments that enable and maintain an entry). ‘Thus such interventions involve significantly fewer complications than in the past and are no longer so terrifying,’ Thomé explains. In combi- nation with the continuous improve- ment of anaesthetic techniques such operations are possible even at advanced ages. This is good news in view of the demographic develop- ment and the growing demands of older patients regarding quality of life and mobility. Technical progress in the operat- ing theatre was and is decisive to establish gentle surgery techniques. Surgical microscopes or camera-sup- ported visualisation permit continu- ous minimalisation of the access with an ever-improving detail depiction of the surgical area. Spinal navigation enables high precision for the computer-aided insertion of implants. With the aid of intraoperative imaging, the result can still be checked on the ‘open’ patient. ‘This improves the results and prevents re-operations’, the neurosurgeon explains. ‘Screws and other implants become more techni- cally advanced and can be inserted using minimally invasive methods. Ultimately, all these factors lead to better outcomes.’ Of course all this demands that surgeons gain the skills necessary to keep in step with these developments. In the same line, Professor Michael Ogon at the Speising orthopaedic hospital in Vienna, who became President of the Spine Society of Europe (EuroSpine) in September, added: ‘Due to new insights, new surgical techniques, and technologi- cal progress, specialised training in spinal surgery becomes even more important.’ Ogon was speaking dur- ing the ‘Summer University’ in Vienna, one of the annual professional con- gresses organised by medical tech- nology supplier Medtronic and the International Group for Advancement in Spinal Science (IGASS), and attended by 300 specialists this year. Ogon refers to the European Spine Diploma issued by EuroSpine, which is intended to assure that the initial training in spinal surgery in Europe is uniform and that the same standards apply everywhere. Returning to spinal surgery itself, Thomé reported on the state of the art to journalists in Vienna: ‘The knowledge with regard to the statics and biomechanics of the spine has progressed in recent years. Whereas little attention was paid in the past to the placement of screwed connec- tions in fusions, today we are aware of the important role the vertical profile plays for the spine.’ However in Thomé’s view the future of spinal treatment lies in regenerative therapy strategies: ‘The aim must be to pre- vent, or at least retard, the natural deterioration of the disc respectively in the spine. Molecular biological discoveries such as those pertaining to stem cells and growth factors will allow us to influence the aging pro- cesses in the future.’ In a new clinical study at the Medical University Innsbruck disc cells from slipped disc incidents are currently being cultivated and inject- ed again into patients after three months. Initial results are expected within one to two years.

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