Prof. Arun Ranganathan

Brief Profile

Always adopting a considered, caring approach, Professor Arun Ranganathan is an outstanding spinal surgeon, who is widely regarded as one of the finest spinal surgeons in the UK and has operated on many international dignitaries, royal family members and professional sports people. He is often referred to as the surgeon’s surgeon, operating on other surgeons (including spine specialists) due to his excellent safety record, short recovery times and outstanding results.

A multi-award winner for his research work at an early stage of his career, he is an accomplished international speaker, author and teacher in his field and achieved a world first when appearing on national TV performing spinal surgery. He currently holds two prestigious honorary professorial roles, has used his expertise to introduce improvements to spinal surgery in Asia and is a firm advocate of the value of taking a holistic approach to the entire spectrum of spinal pathologies.

About Professor Arun Ranganathan

Professor Ranganathan is, by nature, an analytical and conservative practitioner who specialises in minimal access and keyhole surgery because it offers the best chance of quick and effective recovery. His experience in all forms of adult and paediatric spinal deformity including osteotomies, complex spinal reconstructions and tumour surgery is second to none. A firm believer in the value of adopting a multi-disciplinary team approach and, with this ethos in mind, he established London Spine Care, a collective of the best surgeons, physiotherapists, osteopaths and pain experts to deliver holistic care for all spinal problems. In April 2019, he carried out spine straightening scoliosis surgery on Operation Live, a Channel 5 programme, nominated for a BAFTA in the category best live event in June 2020. This live surgery was a world first and is now used to inform and educate patients about the surgery itself.

His surgical training was carried out at the renowned centres in Nottingham, London, Leeds and Newcastle. Following his training, he was selected for the prestigious adult and paediatric spinal fellowships in both orthopaedic surgery and neurosurgery of the spine under leading global spinal consultants, Dr Stephen Lewis and Professor Michael Fehlings, on the highly regarded AO North America Advanced Spine fellowship from Krembil Neurosciences Centre and Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. University of Toronto and at the Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto.

Research work at the Sir Peter Mansfield Centre was rewarded with a doctorate degree in spinal surgery from the University of Nottingham in 2008. In both 2004 and 2009, he again displayed his appetite and talent for research, becoming the youngest winner of the ISSLS (formerly Volvo) prize for the best spinal research work worldwide. 2004 also saw him win the Britspine Award for Best Spinal Research in UK, with 2009 seeing him earn the Spine Society of Australia award for best international research work.

He is one of only a handful of UK spinal surgeons to be in receipt of a National Institute of Health Sciences Research (NIHR) Grant and worked as chief investigator of PRESTO (Pragmatic Randomised Evaluation of Stable Thoracolumbar fracture treatment Outcomes) a multi-centre national trial looking into the treatment of thoracolumbar spine fractures.

He has a very active mind and is constantly working to improve the care that he gives and the techniques and technology we adopt to deliver the care. With this in mind, he is involved in virtual and augmented reality device development, robotics and navigation as well as new implants and instrumentation, as he strives to achieve the best possible outcome for not only his, but all patients in the future.

Health and fitness play a big part in Professor Ranganathan’s leisure time. He is a former national standard tennis player, marathon runner, enjoys strength & conditioning and is an accomplished mountaineer tackling some of the world’s highest peaks.

Qualification

• FRCS (Tr&Orth), Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
• DM (Orthopaedics), University of Nottingham
• PGDip (Orth Engin), Cardiff University
• MRCS, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh

Post held in past

• Consultant Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgeon, The Spine Surgery London
• Consultant Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgeon, The Holly House Private Hospital
• Consultant Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgeon, The London Clinic
• Consultant Spine and Orthopaedic Surgeon, St Bartholomew’s Hospital London
• Consultant Spine and Orthopaedic Surgeon, The Royal London Hospital

Fields of Expertise

• Minimal invasive and Keyhole surgery
• Adult and Pediatric spinal deformity including
  • Osteotomies
  • Complex reconstructions of cranio-vertebral, cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine
  • Tumour surgery

Awards & Recognition

• Awarded doctorate degree for research in the field of spinal surgery conducted in Sir Peter Mansfield (Nobel Prize winner) MR centre, University of Nottingham
• Received ISSLS (formerly Volvo) award for Best Spinal Research Work in the Intervertebral Disc Physiology (2004, 2009)
• Received Britspine International Award for Best International Spinal Research Work (2004)
• Received Spine Society of Australia Award for Best International Spinal Research Work (2009)

Publications

• Expert reviewer for several international journals including Spine.
• (Pubmed Author search ID : Arun R [au] / Ranganathan A[au] )
• Reliability of Quantitative MRI Methods in the Assessment of Spinal Canal Stenosis and Cord Compression in Cervical Myelopathy Karpova A, Ranganathan A, Davis AM, Kulkarni AV, Mikulis DJ, Sooyong C, Rabin D, Craciunas S, Smith SR, Hansen MA, George J, Fehlings MG. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2012 Jul 4. [Epub ahead of print]
• New treatments and imaging strategies in degenerative disease of the intervertebral disks. Lotz JC, Haughton V, Boden SD, An HS, Kang JD, Masuda K, Freemont A, Berven S, Sengupta DK, Tanenbaum L, Maurer P, Ranganathan A, Alavi A, Marinelli NL. Radiology. 2012 Jul;264(1):6-19.
• ISSLS Prize Winner 2009 : What is the effect of a sustained Load on Diffusion of Solutes in Human Intervertebral Discs ? Lead article in Spine (Phila Pa 1976) Vol 34(21), Oct 1 2009, pp 2324 – 2337. PMID: 19755934 R Arun, BJC Freeman, BE Scammell, DS McNally, P Gowland. (Impact Factor 2.676)
• ISSLS Prize Winner 2004: A Study of Diffusion in Human Lumbar Discs: A Serial Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study Documenting the Effect of Endplate on Diffusion in Normal and Degenerate Discs. S. Rajasekaran, JN Babu, R Arun, AP Shetty, S Murugan. Spine (Phila Pa 1976), Number 23,Dec.1, 2004, pp 2654-2667. PMID: 15564914 (Impact Citation Factor 2.676)
• Scoliosis in Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy: a changing trend in surgical management. A historical surgical outcome study comparing sublaminar, hybrid and pedicle screw instrumentation systems. R Arun, S Srinivas, SMH Mehdian. Eur Spine J. 2010 Mar;19(3):376-83. Epub 2009 Sep 17. PMID: 19760271
• Scoliosis in Association with Infantile Hypophospahtasia – A rare case study in two siblings. Review article. R Arun, R Khazim, JK Webb, J Burn. Spine (Phila Pa 1976), Vol.30, Aug 15, 2005. PMID: 16103841 (Impact Factor 2.676)
• A New Technique for Reduction of High Grade Isthmic Spondylolisthesis. SMH Mehdian, R Arun, Alwyn Jones, AA Cole Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2005 Oct 1;30(19):E579-84. Review. PMID: 16205332 (Impact Factor 2.3)
• Do Anterior interbody Cages have a potential value in the surgical management of Scheuermann’s Kyphosis? R Arun, SMH Mehdian, BJC Freeman, SC Daivajina SPINE J. 2006 Jul-Aug; 6 (4):413-20. PMID: 16825049
• Multilevel vertebral osteomyelitis and facet joint infection following epidural catheterisation. R Arun, Al-Nammari SS, Mehdian SM. Acta Orthop Belg. 2007 Oct; 73(5):665-9. PMID: 18019927
• Spontaneous kyphotic collapse followed by autostabilisation secondary to cervical osteomyelitis in an intravenous drug abuser. R Arun , Kasbekar AV, Mehdian SM. Acta Orthop Belg. 2007 Dec; 73(6):807-11. PMID: 18260500
• A New Three Stage Spinal Shortening Procedure For Reduction of Severe Adolescent Isthmic Spondylolisthesis – a case series with medium to long term follow-up. S H Mehdian, R Arun Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2011 Feb 25. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 21358576
• A Safe Controlled Instrumented Reduction Technique for Cervical Osteotomy in Ankylosing Spondylitis – a 16 year experience. S H Mehdian, R Arun Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2011 Apr 20;36(9):715-20. PMID: 21289582
• Comparison of Three Types of Lumbar Osteotomy for Ankylosing Spondylitis – a case series and evolution of a safe technique for instrumented reduction R Arun, HV Dabke, SH Mehdian Eur Spine J. 2011 Dec; 20(12):2252-60. Epub 2011 Jul 29. PMID: 21800034
• Two rare causes of Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome R Arun, S Rajasekaran – Journal Of TNOA – Vol 29,2003 pp 96-97.
• A Study of Diffusion in Human Lumbar Intervertebral Discs – an MRI evaluation in normal volunteers and low-back ache patients. R Arun, S Rajasekaran – Journal Of TNOA – Vol 29,2003, pp75-83.
• A Study of Diffusion in Human Lumbar Intervertebral Discs – an MRI evaluation in normal volunteers and low-back ache patients. R Arun, S Rajasekaran – Journal Of TNOA – Vol 29,2003, pp75-83.
• Fate of Bone Grafts in Cervical fusion without Instrumentation – R Arun, Rajasekaran S Journal of Tamil Nadu Orthopaedic Association Vol-28, 2002
• Abstracts Hamstring Graft Harvest In Arthroscopic ACL Reconstruction: A New Approach Haddo, R Arun, C Chauhan – Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery – British. Vol 87-B, Issue SUPP II, 147-148.
• The Normal Diffusion Pattern Of Human Lumbar Intervetebral Discs – A Ranganathan, Rajasekaran S, Naresh Babu, AP Shetty – Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery – British Volume, Orthopaedic Proceedings Vol 87-B, Issue SUPP III, 235.
• A Study of Diffusion in Human Lumbar Discs- a serial post contrast MRI study documenting the effect of Endplate on diffusion of solutes – ISSLS abstract book, 2004 and World Spine Society Abstracts, 2005.
• Comparison of Autogenous Rib Graft to Interbody Cages in the Surgical Management of Scheuermann’s disease. R Arun, SC Daivajna, SMH Mehdian, CI Adams. – World Spine Society Abstracts, 2005.
• Problems in the Surgical Management of Candidial Osteomyelitis secondary to Esophageal Perforation. R Arun, SMH Mehdian. – European Spine Journal, Volume 14, Supplement 1, Sept 2005.
• Radiological and Functional Outcome of Cervical fusion without Instrumentation R Arun – European Spine Journal, Volume 14, Supplement 1,Sept 2005.
• Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy: a long term Outcome analysis of different instrumentation systems. Arun R, SC Daivajna, SMH Mehdian, A Jones – European Spine Journal, Volume 14, Supplement 1,Sept 2005.
• Haemo-dynamic Stability following Low Dose Combined Spinal Epidural Anaesthesia Old Age Geriatric Patients undergoing Lower Limb Orthopaedic Surgery. Maheshwari S, R Arun, Balavenkat Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists Annual Meet Abstracts, Dec. 2002.
• The Efficacy of Brachial Plexus Blocks in Upper Limb Orthopaedic Surgery Maheshwari S, R Arun, Balavenkat J Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists Annual Meet Abstracts, Dec. 2002.
• Functional and Radiological Outcome of Cervical Fusion without Bone Grafting- R Arun, S Rajasekaran, AP Shetty Indian Orthopaedic Association abstracts, 2001
• Current Papers under submission
• Thalamic Pain Syndrome – a rare cause for residual radicular pain following cervical disc arthroplasty S Lakkol, R Arun, G Reddy, T Friesem – submitted to J Neurosurgery Spine.
• Invited Book Review on ‘The Craniovertebral Junction : Diagnosis-Pathology-Surgical Techniques’ – R Arun , MG Fehlings.
• Fusion Mass Screws in correction of complex kyphoscoliotic deformities. SJ Lewis, R Arun, A Dold (Submitted to SPINE J)
• Assessment of Spinal Cord Compression by Magnetic Resonance Imaging – Can it predict surgical outcome in cervical spondylotic myelopathy?: A Systematic Review. A Karpova, R Arun, DW Cadotte, AM Davis, AV Kulkarni (SPINE J – 2nd Revision)
• Predictors of Treatment Outcomes in Geriatric Patients with Odontoid Fractures: AOSpine North America Multi-centre Prospective GOF Study MG Fehlings, R Arun, A Vaccaro Paul Arnold , Jens Chapman , Branko Kopjar (accepted in SPINE J subject to minor revisions)
• Predictors of Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Surgery for Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy. A Karpova, R Arun, AM Davis, AV Kulkarni, EM Massicotte, DJ Mikulis, MG Fehlings ( SPINE J – 2nd revision)

Key Procedures Performed

Spinal surgery

• Degenerative spinal conditions, spinal deformity, infections and cancers of the spine

Rare/ Unique Skills

• Precision better than Robotic device.

Interests

• Degenerative spinal conditions
• Spinal deformity
• Infections and cancers of the Spine

Languages Spoken

English, Hindi