Penang, June 14th 2008 - The Island Hospital Spine Centre at Georgetown, Penang, MALAYSIA contributed to the academic research activities of the recently concluded 81st Annual Congress of the Japanese Orthopaedic Association, held at Hokkaido, Japan from May 22nd - 25th 2008.

Dr Oh Kim Soon represented the Centre in his capacity as JOA 2008 Travel Award winner and presented his results on investigating cervical spine dynamics after surgery to implant artificial discs in the neck. In his series of 44 patients, there were significant results only when more than a single level was involved.

Disc replacement surgery represents cutting-edge spine surgery technology and is increasingly sought by patients who prefer to maintain natural motion after spine surgery. Existing techniques use fusion to stabilise a spinal segment after surgery had been performed.

Dr Oh was invited to Hokkaido University last year to lecture on "Justifying Primary Instrumentation in Unstable Tuberculous Spine Infections" where he shared his ideas on using titanium implants immediately in infected spines. Many centres avoid primary implants for fear of lingering infections.

The results from the cervical spine study would be augmented by numbers added in by continuing the series. Dr Oh hopes to improve on statistical significance with a larger pool of analysis.

Island Hospital Press Release, June 14th 2008 Penang, MALAYSIA

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