Chief, Neuro Spine Surgery & Additional Director, Neurosurgery, Artemis Hospitals, Gurgaon, India
Part 9 of 13 in Making Spine Surgery 100% Safe
Pediatric Spine Surgery in India: Conditions Treated
August 6, 2026
Pediatric spine surgery in India treats children from six months to 18 years of age for conditions including neural tube defects, Chiari malformation, tethered cord, scoliosis, hemivertebra deformities and spinal tumours. Dr. S. K. Rajan, Chief and Unit Head, Orthopaedics and Spine Neurosurgery at Artemis Hospitals, Gurgaon, confirmed this age range directly during his Jivo Masterclass question and answer session.
What Conditions Are Treated in Children?
Dr. S. K. Rajan lists neural tube defects such as meningocele and myelomeningocele, Chiari malformation, tethered cord, scoliosis, hemivertebra deformities, and spinal tumours as conditions treated through pediatric spine surgery. Many of these are present from birth and require careful, age-appropriate surgical planning.
Scoliosis and Hemivertebra in Children
Among his case examples, Dr. S. K. Rajan describes a young girl with scoliosis caused by a hemivertebra who underwent wedge resection and screw correction to straighten her spine, illustrating the kind of deformity correction performed as part of pediatric spine surgery in India.
Why Age Range Matters for Families
By confirming that pediatric spine surgery at Artemis Hospitals covers children from six months to 18 years of age, Dr. S. K. Rajan gives families a clear picture of when to seek specialist evaluation for congenital or developmental spine conditions, rather than waiting until a child reaches adulthood. Early evaluation is particularly important for conditions like neural tube defects and tethered cord, where timely surgery can prevent further neurological decline.
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This article is based on a Jivo Masterclass session conducted by Dr. S. K. Rajan, Chief and Unit Head, Orthopaedics and Spine Neurosurgery, Artemis Hospitals, Gurgaon, India. The article has been summarised with the assistance of an AI tool from the original masterclass recording. Watch the full Masterclass recording
This guide is based on a live Jivo Masterclass — Dr. S. K. Rajan taught doctors across Africa on September 15, 2024.
FROM THE LIVE Q&A
Dr. Abraa
Do you use intraoperative neuromonitoring?
Dr. S. K. Rajan
Yes, we do use intraoperative neuromonitoring — we are one of the very few centres in the country who have been using this quite regularly. We were focusing on minimally invasive spine surgery and spine navigation in this talk because of limited time, but yes, we do have neuromonitoring available to us as well.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have provisions for doing spine surgeries for children with neural tube defects?▼
Yes, we have specialist spine surgeons and pediatric surgeons also, and I myself do a lot of spine surgery in children — whether they have neural tube defects such as meningocele, Chiari malformation, or tethering of the spinal cord which can cause weakness of the legs. In all those patients we do spine surgeries, also in children who've got scoliosis or hemivertebra deformities, or tumours of the spine. All those patients we have been tackling from the age of 6 months to 18 years of age.
What about the cost of treatment, and the duration of treatment, for a spine problem?▼
The cost of surgery in our hospital for spinal problems can range anything from $3,500 for a discectomy and decompression to $5,500 or $6,000 for fixation of the spine at one level, and even up to $10,000 for more complicated cases — that's usually the range of costs patients most commonly have to bear. Most of these patients, who come walking because of pain in the neck, arm, or lower back going into the legs, usually stay in the hospital for about three to four days, and in the country for about two weeks.
Do you use intraoperative neuromonitoring?▼
Yes, we do use intraoperative neuromonitoring — we are one of the very few centres in the country who have been using this quite regularly. We were focusing on minimally invasive spine surgery and spine navigation in this talk because of limited time, but yes, we do have neuromonitoring available to us as well.
What congenital spine conditions are treated through pediatric spine surgery?▼
Neural tube defects such as meningocele and myelomeningocele, Chiari malformation, tethered cord, scoliosis, hemivertebra deformities, and spinal tumours.
How was a child's scoliosis caused by a hemivertebra treated?▼
Dr. Rajan describes a young girl whose hemivertebra-related scoliosis was corrected through wedge resection of the abnormal bone combined with screw correction, successfully straightening her spine.
Why is early evaluation important for conditions like tethered cord in children?▼
Many of these conditions are present from birth and require age-appropriate surgical planning, and timely surgery can prevent further neurological decline.
In This Series: Making Spine Surgery 100% Safe
- 1.Making Spine Surgery 100% Safe
- 2.Cement Augmentation for Osteoporotic Spinal Fractures
- 3.Cost of Spine Surgery in India
- 4.Why an Integrated Spine Clinic Matters: Team-Based Spine Care
- 5.Intraoperative Neuromonitoring in Spine Surgery
- 6.Keyhole (Minimally Invasive) Spine Surgery Explained
- 7.Lumbar Canal Stenosis: Keyhole Surgery and Recovery
- 8.What Is the O-Arm and How Does It Make Spine Surgery Safer?
- 9.Pediatric Spine Surgery in India: Conditions Treated
- 10.Scoliosis Correction Surgery in India
- 11.Treating Spinal Tuberculosis in India
- 12.What Causes Spine Surgery Complications, and How They're Prevented
- 13.When Is Spine Surgery Actually Needed? Signs You Shouldn't Ignore