Roman Kovalenko, MD, PhD, a neurosurgeon from the Almazov Centre won the best research paper contest held among young neurosurgeons, neurologists, neuroradiologists and other neurology physicians. This annual contest is organized by the Federal Center of Neurosurgery in Novosibirsk. Each article is reviewed by the expert panel for the originality of results and matching content from open sources.
The results and winners of the contest were announced at the meeting of the Siberian Association of Neurosurgeons SibNeuro on February 16, 2018.
In his article “Using personalized 3D-printed navigation templates for transpedicular screw fixation in the cervical spine: the results of a prospective two-center pilot study”, doctor Kovalenko presented the clinical experience of using this technique to treat 14 patients.
The method is based on the use of 3D-printed templates fitting with the patient's vertebra to ensure the perfect insertion of screws. The rapid prototyping technique (3D printing) has recently been broadly introduced in various areas of surgery. “The method enables precise fixation of screws in cervical spine surgeries, thus reducing the rate of complications and the burden of repeated surgery. Other advantages are the significant reduction of radiation load on the patient (since there is no need for images in different projections), ease of use and relatively low cost. This is a very efficient solution,” the neurosurgeon noted.
Such surgeries are performed in virtually the entire range of spinal surgery, for instance, for degenerative or rheumatic lesions, spinal tumors, and spinal trauma.
Doctor Kovalenko was offered an internship at a Serbian clinic as a prize for winning the contest.