Spine Department II

At present, the annual average number of surgeries is more than 1,500; 3,500 patients are admitted; outpatient visits exceed 10,000; and the year-round number of inpatients reaches 250. Research projects completed to date include 2 National Natural Science Foundation projects, more than 10 autonomous-region-level Natural Science Foundation projects, and more than 10 projects at the department/bureau level; more than 60 core-journal articles and more than 10 SCI papers have been published; more than 60 master's and doctoral students have been supervised; among established staff, 5 hold senior professional titles and 1 holds an associate-senior title; and the proportion of master's and doctoral students exceeds 95%. For common and frequently occurring conditions causing neck, shoulder, low-back, and leg pain (such as lumbar disc herniation and cervical spondylosis), the department applies the new concept of precision spinal surgery and has developed a treatment system led by minimally invasive spinal techniques and combined with traditional Chinese medicine treatment protocols. The department was the first in Xinjiang to introduce a number of new surgical techniques. In particular, lumbar foraminal endoscopic nucleus pulposus removal in 2008 ushered in a new era of minimally invasive spinal surgery throughout Xinjiang; it subsequently took the lead in the region in performing full-endoscopic posterior cervical keyhole techniques, ALIF (anterior lumbar interbody fusion), OLIF (oblique lateral interbody fusion), XLIF (extreme lateral interbody fusion), and UBE (unilateral biportal endoscopic fusion). In recent years, it has steadily introduced 3D printing, microscopic spinal fusion, surgical navigation robots, and other technologies. It has also developed distinctive specialty diagnosis and treatment protocols for lumbar disc herniation, radicular cervical spondylosis, and adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. It led the revision of the 2013 traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis and treatment protocols under the national TCM key-specialty collaboration for low-back pain (lumbar disc herniation), Xiangbi disease (radicular cervical spondylosis), and third lumbar transverse process syndrome. It was the first in Xinjiang to issue regional diagnosis and treatment standards for integrated Chinese-Western medicine minimally invasive perioperative care for lumbar disc herniation and radicular cervical spondylosis, and the first in Xinjiang to conduct epidemiological surveys and integrated Chinese-Western medicine exercise rehabilitation for mild-to-moderate adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. In 2018, the Xinjiang Professional Committee of Integrated Chinese-Western Medicine Spinal Surgery was established; across Xinjiang, hundreds of peers in minimally invasive spine surgery have been recruited for study and further training, promoting academic exchange in minimally invasive spinal surgery within the region. The application of many of our department's new technologies leads all of Xinjiang and has reached nationally advanced levels, enabling people in the region to receive medical services comparable to those in China's first-tier cities without leaving Xinjiang. These efforts have made our department an important integrated center for clinical care, teaching, and research in Xinjiang and Northwest China. “What begins simply will surely end greatly.” The people of Spinal Surgery II have followed President Xi Jinping's earnest teachings and worked hard to explore and advance. New opportunities and challenges coexist; precision and minimally invasive surgery have taken shape in spinal surgery, supported by the advantages of modern medical technology, whose role is growing year by year. Facing new historical conditions and actively responding to the Party and state's “Belt and Road Initiative,” our department will make mastering advanced, precise, and cutting-edge technologies and solving difficult acute, critical, dangerous, and severe diseases its mission: integrating advantageous resources and optimizing the medical industry structure to further improve the quality of medical services, providing sound hardware and software support for stabilizing and developing Xinjiang through healthcare, and offering higher-quality medical services to patients of all ethnic groups throughout Xinjiang and in neighboring countries.