New O Arm takes spinal surgery into the robot age
A Durban North resident, Derrik Dreyer is walking tall after undergoing an operation using the O-Arm technology five and a half weeks ago.
PATIENTS with neuro or spinal conditions can now access world class surgery at Gateway Private Hospital in uMhlanga which has become the first hospital in KwaZulu-Natal to install the Medtronic O-Arm 2, a surgical imaging and navigation system. The O-Arm allows surgeons to take a 3-dimensional images of the spine which allows for greater precision when correcting spinal deformities.
For a local teenager with scoliosis, the O-Arm has already been put to good use. “Before this operation, I had trouble walking and I was in pain. I also struggled to breathe because my lung was compressed,” said Aliyah Bassa, 14 who came out of the operating theatre just six weeks ago.
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Mother, Naseera Bassa said she will need to invest in a pair of high-heeled shoes since Aliyah is now taller than her after the operation.
“Just four days after her surgery, Aliyah was climbing stairs with ease,” said Naseera.
Busamed neurosurgeon, Dr Victor Stallenberg who performed the operation said Aliyah’s surgery time was reduced by 90 minutes thanks to the O-Arm technology. During the procedure, Stallenberg inserted screws into the spine and secured these to metal rods to correct the spine.
“The O-Arm allowed me to check the position of the screws in two to three minutes. In a spinal surgery, 2mm off can be detrimental to the patient,” he said.
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Stallenberg has performed 14 operations using the O Arm.
“Now days, even if it’s a simple case, I use the O-Arm.
A Durban North resident, Derrik Dreyer is walking tall after undergoing an operation using the O-Arm technology five and a half weeks ago.
“My wife always told me to stand up straight and I said I would if I could. After an MRI scan I found out I had a collapsed disc and vertebra had fused-that’s why I was bent over. Everyone says I am taller now,” said Dreyer.
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