4. Bhupal Chitnavis

Bhupal Chitnavis

Consultant Neurosurgeon

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Treatments

Mr Chitnavis offers a range of treatments for spinal conditions, including:

  • Spinal surgery for scoliosis, sciatica and back pain, neck pain and arm pain
  • Minimally invasive spinal surgery
  • CyberKnife®
  • Decompression of spinal nerves
  • Spinal fusion
  • Spinal injections


Private practice

Mr Chitnavis is available for private consultation at HCA UK at The Shard in Central London, 31 Old Broad Street in the City of London, BMI Shirley Oaks Hospital in Croydon (now part of Circle Health Group) and LycaHealth in Canary Wharf and Orpington, Kent.

He also able to offer virtual consultations.

Clinic hours

HCA UK at The Shard

Monday AM

 

Tuesday AM

 

Wednesday PM/Evening

 

Thursday PM/Evening

 

Friday AM

HCA 31 Old Broad Street

By appointment

BMI Shirley Oaks Hospital

Thursday AM

LycaHealth Canary Wharf

Monday PM

LycaHealth Orpington

Friday PM

Consultations

Mr Chitnavis is fee assured with all the major health insurance companies. He also welcomes patients who wish to self-fund treatment:

 

Face-to-face

Virtual/remote

Initial consultation fee

£295                        

£175

Follow-up consultation fee      

£250

£175

 

 

Treatments, operations and tests

A herniated cervical disc occurs when the discs between the vertebrae weaken or even rupture. In many cases a herniated cervical disc will recover without surgery after rest of prescription drugs, surgical intervention removes the part of the disc which is pressing on the nerve.
DIAM stabilisation seeks to repair the degradation of the discs between vertebrae caused by aging. This is done by inserting a silicone/titanium brace into the spine to relieve back pain.
Epidural steroid injection is a technique for relieving pain from spinal stenosis and spinal disc herniation. Using a needle, relatively small amounts of corticosteroids together with a local anesthetic are injected into the epidural space around the spinal cord and spinal nerves. The anti-inflammatory effect of the corticosteroid is responsible for providing pain relief. Modern techniques employ image guidance for accuracy. This allows the physician to visualize the location of the needle with respect to the anatomy prior to the injection. While traditional techniques without image guidance, also known as blind injections, can assure a degree of accuracy using anatomical landmarks, it has been shown in studies that image guidance provides much more reliable localization and accuracy in comparison.
There are three common types of spinal tumours: Extradural, intradural-extramedullary tumours, and intramedullary tumours. Some tumours arise from cells within the spinal bones or bonemarrow, but most are secondary malignant tumours which have spread from a primary tumour elsewhere. Excision of a spinal tumour is carried out under general anaesthetic. The soft tissues are dissected to expose the back of the spine. The superficial spinal bones (the laminae) are removed to access the spinal canal. Within the spinal canal is a tissue-lined compartment that contains the spinal cord and nerves that are bathed in cerebrospinal fluid. The dura is opened parallel to the long axis of the spine to expose the spinal cord and nerves. Using microsurgical technique, the tumour is dissected free from the surrounding normal structures. Once the tumour is removed the dura is sutured closed. The curative outcome of this surgery depends entirely on the type of tumour involved.
Facet joints are small joints at each segment of the spine that provide stability and help guide motion. The facet joints can become painful due to arthritis of the spine, a back injury or mechanical stress to the back. A cervical (neck), thoracic (upper back) or lumbar (lower back) facet joint injection involves injecting a steroid medication, which can anesthetize the facet joints and block the pain. The pain relief from a facet joint injection is intended to help a patient better tolerate a physical therapy routine to rehabilitate his or her injury or back condition.
A discectomy (also called open discectomy) is the surgical removal of herniated disc material that presses on a nerve root or the spinal cord. The procedure involves removing the central portion of an intervertebral disc, the nucleus pulposus, which causes pain by stressing the spinal cord or radiating nerves. Advances in options have produced effective alternatives to traditional discectomy procedures (i.e. Microdiscectomy, Endoscopic Discectomy, and Laser Discectomy). This procedure is far less invasive and the healing time is consequently reduced.
Thermal radiofrequency (also known as radiofrequency ablation and radiofrequency neurotomy) are procedures that destroy the functionality of the nerve using radiofrequency energy. The physician uses x-ray guidance (fluoroscopy) to direct a special (radiofrequency) needle alongside the medial or lateral branch nerves. The targeted nerves will then be numbed to minimize pain while the lesion is being created. The radiofrequency waves are introduced to heat the tip of the needle and a heat lesion is created on the nerve to disrupt the nerve's ability to send pain signals. The procedure is performed under light sedation and normally last between 30 and 90 minutes. Pulsed Radiofrequency is a technique used for creating a carefully controlled electrical field around an electrode. This electrode is usually built into the shape and size of a needle and is again performed under fluoroscopy. The word “pulsed” means this technique applies energy to the electrode intermittently and is generally used when other methods have failed. It is performed under light sedation and a local anaesthetic. 2 hours should be allowed for the procedure from start to finish.
A Discectomy is the surgical removal of herniated disc material that presses on a nerve root or the spinal cord. The procedure involves removing the central portion of an intervertebral disc, the nucleus pulposus, which causes pain by stressing the spinal cord or radiating nerves. Advances in options have produced effective alternatives to traditional discectomy procedures. In this procedure, a small piece of bone (the lamina) is removed from the affected vertebra, allowing the surgeon to better see and access the area of disc herniation
Spinal rehabilitation begins as soon as a patient has recovered from their acute symptoms. Rehabilitation is a long process. Today, a wide variety of therapies and therapeutic equipment are available.
A lumbar laminectomy is also known as an open decompression and typically performed to alleviate pain caused by neural impingement that can result from lumbar spinal stenosis. A condition that primarily afflicts elderly patients, spinal stenosis is caused by degenerative changes that result in enlargement of the facet joints. The lumbar laminectomy is designed to remove a small portion of the bone over the nerve root and/or disc material from under the nerve root to give the nerve root more space and a better healing environment
A trigeminal neuralgia is a rare neurological disease that causes short episodes of facial pain, surgical intervention should be reserved for those who's pain is not manageable through drugs. Microvascular Decompression is the most common surgical procedure, a small incision is made behind the ear and a hole drilled into the skull so as to access and remove the pressure on the trigeminal nerve.