Neurosurgeons and specialists in spine surgery have said that women have a higher risk of spinal cord deformities due to osteoporosis.

Experts in spinal surgeries from across the world have gathered at the 32nd Annual Conference of Association of Spine Surgeons of India (ASSICON) being held at New Delhi. Talking to IANS, Dr. Subir N Jhaveri, the secretary of ASSICON said, "Due to more prevalence of osteoporosis in women, there is a 10 per cent more chance of spinal deformities in females than in males."

He was talking on the sidelines of the event which has the theme 'Controversies and Complications in Spine Surgery', where over 500 delegates are participating in the four-day event which started on January 24. Many of them have come from the USA, Canada, Turkey, Korea and Japan. The conference will see discussions on various topics on the spine including degenerative, trauma, osteoporosis, infections, tumours as well as spinal deformity.

"There are about 1000 spine surgeons in India. In Gujarat around 200 to 250 spine surgeries are carried out annually and approximately 15 per cent of them are of the minimal invasion surgery, while the rest are open surgeries," said Dr. A. Niraj Vasavada, the Head of Department in a multi-specialty hospital.

"The major hindrance in surgeries for spinal deformity is the lack of awareness in the patients, who approach the surgeons at a very late stage when the deformity is at the maximum level making the surgery extremely difficult," he said.

"The minimal invasive surgery has a very high rate of success in improving and rectifying the deformity. But it requires modern technology with the latest equipment which makes it an expensive one, but still we carry out such surgeries sometimes at negligible cost like 1.5 to 2 lakh due to the patient's financial condition and philanthropy from our side. This is just around 5 to 10 per cent of what it costs in advanced countries," said Dr. Amit C. Jhala, Chairperson of the ASSICON 2019.

The conference will serve as a platform to share knowledge and experiences of renowned spine surgeons. There are around 50 surgeons participating in the conference from government institutions like the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and also from other state government institutions. Besides the conference, the association has also organised a trade show to showcase the best and the latest medical treatment, equipment, solutions and services in spinal surgery.