Dr. Suranjana R., final-year postgraduate resident in Orthopaedics has won the best poster award at the recently held KOACON –2016 organized by Kerala Orthopaedic Association (KOA). The poster was titled ‘Unusual Case of Compressive Myelopathy.’ She was guided by Dr. Krishnakumar R., Consultant Spine Surgeon and Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Orthopaedics, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences.

“This year there were 50 posters competing for the award, out of which 10 posters entered the final round,” said Dr. Suranjana. “Our poster described a rare case of thoracic compressive myelopathy (a condition where the spinal cord gets compressed) in a 15-year-old boy. He had difficulty in walking for the past 6 months and needed support to walk. We investigated the patient and found him to have a bone tumour arising from the vertebra severely compressing the spinal cord. It was successfully operated and was found to be osteochondroma; a benign bone tumour. The details of investigations and surgical steps were highlighted during the poster presentation and there was a good appreciation from the panel judges and members.”

Dr. Krishnakumar, who guided Dr. Suranjana added: “When the boy came to me, he could hardly stand up. His spinal cord was significantly compressed by the tumour; which required microsurgical approach, use of high speed burr and careful removal of the tumour under neuromonitoring. Osteochondroma is a common benign bone tumour seen in children, but to have such a tumour inside the spinal canal was uncommon. So here, we had a common tumour in an uncommon area causing a significant problem. Patient made a progressive recovery and is now walking well.” He continued : “We are happy to see our postgraduates performing well at various conferences. Such awards do play a significant role in motivating junior postgraduate residents as well.”​