With an estimated population of 27.6 million, Saudi Arabia seems acutely suffering from a shortage in national neurologists. The number of Saudi neurologists has slowly increased over the last two decades. According to Prof. Zain Al-Abedeen B. Jamjoom, head of the neuro surgery department at King Saud University and head of the Saudi Association of Neurological Surgery (SANS), there are around 30 national neurologists. “We started some two decades ago with only two specialists in that field,” he said. Jamjoom, who attended the two-day First Saudi Spine Endoscopic Surgery Symposium and Workshop that conclud ed here at the King Fahd General Hospital (KFGH), stated that Saudi medicine students refuse to join this specialist field because they find it difficult. “This area of expertise needs skillful doctors besides being hard workers,” he added. The symposium discussed the latest methods in spine surgery. The meeting came as an official introduction of using endoscopes in spine surgeries for the first time in Mideast. “The technology of using endoscopes in surgeries started some 70 years ago, but it was not that efficient enough. Over the last ten years, this field has witnessed great developments,” Jamjoom said. He added that medical quality growth is linked with industrial development. “We are still short of industrial development that will help us improve ourselves on various levels; medical development is one of these,” he added. He praised the newly adopted technology of employing endoscopes in place of microscopes in critical surgeries like that of spine. “This technology can enable surgeons reach spots in the human body that microscopes failed to do,” he said. Dr. Saggaf Al-Saggaf, consultant neurologist and head of the neurology department at the King Fahd Hospital, pointed out that herniated disk injuries are associated with some people's lifestyle who depend on technology in everything in their lives. “This has produced a languorous generation that doesn't practice any physical sport,” Saggaf claimed. Commenting on the new technology of using endoscopes in spine surgeries Saggaf said patients' safety is the doctor's main concern. “This is the first time in the Kingdom we use this technology to treat spine problems. In fact, it greatly helps in making nerve root decompression wider,” he said. The symposium, held at the training center, witnessed a live transmission of two spine surgeries at the theater room of KFGH. Established in 2006, the Saudi Association of Neurological Surgery is dedicated to promote scientific and professional standards of neurosurgery in the Kingdom. __
