Friday 24th February 2023
08h20 Welcome Dunn / Vlok
08h30 Pathophysiology of nerve pain – what irritates it, what happens to it, reversibility, how long to recover Henning 20
08h50 Imaging as a correlation to pain and outcome in acute disc herniation Polley 20
09h10 UK national spine database Hutton 30
09h40 Discussion 15
09h55 Iliolumbar ligament and pain Gunzburg 10
10h05 Piriformis syndrome – does it exist? Wilson 15
10h20 Discussion 10
10h30 Tea break
11h00 Do neurophysiological investigations add value to diagnosis and predicting outcome? Henning 15
Discussion 5
11h15 Sciatic mimickers Dunn 15
11h30 Gluteal tendonopathy – more common than we think? Vlok 15
11h45 The case of conjoined nerves – MRI recognition and getting around them Polley 15
12h00 Sacro-iliac joint pathology – how do you make the diagnosis? Hilton 15
12h15 Sacro-iliac joint interventions and Evidence based outcomes Hilton 15
12h30 These troubling cysts – facet, Tarlov, perineural (management) Mbata 15
12h45 Discussion 15
13h00 Lunch break
14h00 Advanced interventional pain treatment techniques (root blocks, DRG blocks, stimulators) Wilson 20
14h20 Evidence for epidurals – transforaminal and caudal Kruger 15
14h35 Discussion 10
14h45 Evidence for use in lumbar pain and sciatica: Paracetomol / NSAIDs Walker 10
14h55 Evidence for use in lumbar pain and sciatica: Lyrica / Tricyclics Grobler 10
15h05 Evidence for use in lumbar pain and sciatica: Opiates Tembo 10
15h15 Discussion 15
15h30 Tea break
16h00 Tiger Woods: The sad tale of sciatica, non compliance with rehab and the modern golf swing Wong ?15 / 20
16h20 Spontaneous CES – factors predicting outcome Mathole 15
16h35 Drop foot – will surgery make a difference? Welsh 15
16h50 Discussion 10
17h00 Evidence based indications for conservative vs Surgery in acute lumbar disc herniation 20
17h20 Discussion and close 10
Saturday 25th February
08h30 Decompression only in foraminal stenosis Harrington 15
08h45 Day case lumbar decompressive surgery – is it safe in SA? Davis 15
09h00 Decompression surgery – loss leader? Whats an acceptable coding bundle? ? Davis 15
09h15 Discussion 15
09h30 Case discussion – 3 cases (extraforaminal) Vlok 15
09h45 Approach to early post-op recurrent leg pain Davis 15
10h00 Does epidural scarring matter? If it does, how do you prevent it? Bolger 15
10h15 Discussion 15
10h30 Tea break
11h00 Good to Great: Strategies to Achieve Advanced Surgical Skills in Microdiscectomy and Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery Wong 15
11h15 Endoscopic surgery – is the long learning curve justified? Botha 15
11h30 Should we relook at nucleoplasty and equivalents? Tromp 15
11h45 Discussion 15
12h00 Once a discectomy, always a fusion? Szpalski 15
12h15 Motion preservation devices in lumbar decompression Blumenthal 15
12h30 Iterative Surgery: Finding the Pearls to Improve Outcomes for Revision Sciatic Surgery Wong 15
12h45 L5 deficit after reduction of severe L5 spondylolisthesis Lamartini 15
13h00 Discussion and close