Physicians at Lebanon, N.H.-based Dartmouth-Hitchcock recently performed a complex fusion of the upper cervical spine through the mid-thoracic spine at its new Center for Surgical Innovation.
Here are three things to know about the center and the surgery:
1. In 2010, the National Institutes of Health awarded a $9.3 million grant to support development of the $19 million center, which includes two operating rooms and two procedure rooms. The first surgeries in the center were neurosurgery procedures performed by David Roberts, MD, Dartmouth-Hitchcock's chief of neurosurgery in spring 2014.
2. The multidisciplinary center leverages the research strengths and interests of Dartmouth-Hitchcock and Dartmouth College, including the Geisel School of Medicine and Thayer School of Engineering.
3. The 20-hour complex fusion procedure was performed by David Bauer, MD, of the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock. The results of the procedure have been promising thus far.
"CSI began as an idea — a dream, really — about a facility that could dramatically accelerate and improve surgery. CSI allows us to perform procedures in ways that are significantly better than conventional surgery. We're looking very carefully at how the technology we use and the procedures we develop will improve the lives of patients," said Sohail Mirza, MD, MPH, medical director of CSI and chair of orthopedics at Dartmouth-Hitchcock.
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