Mediworld 07th MAY-JUNE LR

News & Updates
“Around 30pc of Scoliosis Surgeries in the UAE
are revision cases”
When you think of scoliosis, it is most often associated
with kids, during the growth spurt just before puberty.
While some cases require a surgery to treat the condition,
there are 30 per cent cases that need a revision surgery
according to Dr. Zaid Al Aubaidi, Consultant Paediatric
Orthopaedic & Paediatric Spine Surgeon at Burjeel
Hospital For Advanced Surgery (BHAS).
Simply put, a revision surgery means the first surgery
failed to fix the problem, or worse, there is more pain or
deformity than you could experience before the
procedure. As such, another surgery is required to correct
what failed.
“Indeed, most cases we handle in the UAE are revision
surgeries for children. Some of these patients have been
treated at very high and well recognised centres in
Europe and North America because the parents of these
children believed that treatment abroad is better.
However, this is a myth and its time people break out of it.
Treatments in the UAE are not only affordable and costeffective,
but also offer the same international standards,
if not higher,” said Dr. Zaid Al Aubaidi.
Dr. Zaid Al Aubaidi
“Scoliosis surgeries are extensive, and the complication
rates are even higher, which means when you opt for a
surgery outside the UAE, you are not protected and run a
risk of undergoing complications. Moreover, these kids
have to travel abroad, only to come back to the country to
have an extensive surgery much more difficult than the
one done before to correct what was done. This puts the
child through another round of stress, pain, surgery and
anaesthesia, which can take a toll on the child's health.”
added Dr. Zaid Al Aubaidi.
Dr. Zaid Al Aubaidi has extensive experience in dealing
with paediatric spine deformities, like Adolescent
Idiopathic Scoliosis, Early Onset Scoliosis, Kyphosis,
Cerebral Palsy, Tendon Transfer, Paediatric Hip
Treatment, Paediatric Foot Deformity and Limb Deformity
Correction. With around 18 years of experience in
treating paediatric orthopaedics, Dr. Zaid has performed
over 3,000 elective cases and has a massive experience in
treating fractures – simple to comprehensive ones.
“The idea behind performing a surgery is to bring about
mobility for the child. However, we've often seen that
most surgeries done abroad lack a clear concept of the
condition, only to leave the patient complaining of
dislocation, infection, stiffness and lack of mobility post
the surgery. As such, it is very important that
experienced and skilled surgeons perform procedures.”
said Dr. Zaid Al Aubaidi.
Burjeel Hospital for Advanced Surgery (BHAS) has been a
pioneer in treating adolescent scoliosis. While the
experienced team of doctors at the hospital ensures that
the bleeding and infection is minimal, special care is
taken to ensure there is no nerve injury which in most
cases could affect the walking ability of the child.
Additionally, the hospital uses anintraoperative
neuromonitoring (IONM) device, which is a special
instrument, used to detect any signs of pressure on the
nerves while doing the scoliosis surgery. Using this
device not only reduces the risk of neuron or nerve injury,
but also paves way for faster recovery.
Cost for scoliosis surgeries in the UAE when compared to
Europe and North America, is a lot cheaper and helps
save time, financial, physical, mental and even emotional
stress to the whole family.
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