Spinal Surgery

The Department of Orthopedics of the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University is a national key specialty and took the lead in establishing a dedicated spine surgery specialty in Northeast China in 2002. The Spine Surgery Department currently has 50 beds, 5 professors, 1 associate professor, and 3 attending physicians. Six staff members hold doctoral degrees, and 3 hold master's degrees.

Our hospital's Spine Surgery Department is a leader in spine surgery in southern Liaoning. In particular, its volume of minimally invasive spine/endoscopic surgeries ranks among the highest in China and first in Northeast China. It took the lead in performing minimally invasive procedures such as microendoscopy (MED) and full endoscopy (transforaminal and interlaminar approaches) to treat lumbar disc herniation and lumbar spinal stenosis. It has performed highly complex spinal surgeries using minimally invasive thoracoscopy to treat thoracic vertebral fractures, thoracic disc herniation, thoracic spinal tuberculosis, and tumors, with simultaneous internal fixation using implanted plates. It widely performs minimally invasive percutaneous puncture localization for spinal biopsy, percutaneous vertebroplasty, and radioactive particle implantation (PVP, PKP) to treat osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures, hemangiomas, and malignant tumors. In recent years, it has performed minimally invasive lumbar discectomy and interbody fusion with bone grafting via anterior and posterior approaches (ALIF, OLIF, MIS-TLIF) to treat lumbar disorders, with good results. It is one of the few institutions in China capable of performing total en bloc spondylectomy (EN-BLOC) for spinal tumors. It took the lead in performing complex upper cervical spine surgeries (screw fixation for odontoid fractures, C1 and C2 pedicle screw fixation), posterior cervical endoscopic discectomy, cervical artificial disc replacement, and surgery for severe thoracic spinal stenosis, among others. The annual surgical volume is approximately 900 operations. It has the first computer navigation system for spinal surgery in Northeast China—the US MEDTRONIC STEALTHSTATION S7—as well as the German SIEMENS 3D C-Arm, German SPINENDOS spinal endoscopy system, imported MED discoscope, high-speed electric/pneumatic burrs, German Zeiss operating microscope, and other advanced surgical equipment.

Our department is a national committee-member institution of the Spine Group of the Orthopedics Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, a national standing committee-member institution of the Chinese Spine and Spinal Cord Professional Committee, a national committee-member institution of the Chinese Spine and Spinal Cord Minimally Invasive Group, a national committee-member institution of the Spine Endoscopy Group of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, and a deputy-chairperson institution of the Spine Endoscopy Group of the China Healthcare International Exchange Promotion Association. Since its establishment, the department has received funding for 2 projects from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, 5 provincial- and ministerial-level science fund projects, and 2 Dalian science fund projects. It has published 16 SCI-indexed papers and more than 40 papers in core journals. It has co-authored 13 textbooks and monographs. It has trained more than 40 master's students. It has successively sent multiple doctors to renowned medical centers in the United States, Germany, France, Switzerland, and Japan for further training and established long-term friendly cooperative relationships, which have played an important role in improving the clinical technical level of our department's reserve personnel and advancing basic research.