Davor Saravanja
RESEARCHER PROFILE
PhD Student
Davor is an Orthopaedic Spinal Surgeon working at Macquarie University Hospital Orthopaedic Department with a keen interest in scoliosis in children and adults. He graduated with an undergraduate Medical degree from University of Newcastle in 1998, Completed Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Fellowship in Orthopaedic Surgery in 2008, and Completed prestigious spine fellowship training in Orthopaedic and Neurosurgical Spine Program at University of British Columbia in 2008/9. He also completed a further 6-month Fellowship training at BC Children’s Hospital 2009.
RESEARCH TEAM
KATIE PELLAND Visiting PhD student
DR ELIZABETH CLARKE Visiting postdoctoral fellow
ALICE HATT Research assistant
ALICE PONG PhD student
FIONA KNAPMAN Research assistant
DR PETER BURKE Postdoctoral fellow
PUBLICATIONS
Monitoring image guidance system accuracy during spinal surgery with mini-screw fiducials: technical note.
Sergides IG, Saravanja DD, Sears WR
To describe a technique for measuring accuracy of intraoperative image guidance systems in spine surgery. By using intraoperatively placed mini-screw fiducials, the surgeon may check and quantify the underlying system accuracy both initially and throughout the surgery. In the future, "auto-adjust" functions may be integrated into the computer software to automatically recalibrate the system when a probe is placed into the fiducials without the need for rescanning.
Postoperative infection treatment score for the spine (PITSS): construction and validation of a predictive model to define need for single versus multiple irrigation and debridement for spinal surgical site infection.
Dipaola CP, Saravanja DD, Boriani L, Zhang H, Boyd MC, Kwon BK, Paquette SJ, Dvorak MF, Fisher CG, Street JT
Patients with positive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus culture or those with distant site infection such as bacteremia were strong predictors of need for multiple I&D. Presence of instrumentation, location of surgery in the posterior lumbar spine, and use of nonautograft bone graft material predicted multiple I&D. Diabetes also proved to be the most significant medical comorbidity for multiple I&D. The validation of this predictive model revealed excellent PPV and good NPV with appropriately chosen probability cutoff points. This study forms the basis for an evidence-based classification system, the Postoperative Infection Treatment Score for the Spine that stratifies patients who require surgery for SSI, based on specific spine, patient, infection, and surgical factors to assess a low, indeterminate, and high risk for the need for multiple I&D.
Surgical management of primary bone tumors of the spine: validation of an approach to enhance cure and reduce local recurrence.
Fisher CG, Saravanja DD, Dvorak MF, Rampersaud YR, Clarkson PW, Hurlbert J, Fox R, Zhang H, Lewis S, Riaz S, Ferguson PC, Boyd MC
The purpose of this study is to determine whether applying Enneking's principles to surgical management of primary bone tumors of the spine significant decreases local recurrence and/or mortality. Surgery results in a significant reduction in local recurrence when primary bone tumors of the spine are resected with EA margins. Local recurrence has a high concordance with mortality in resection of these tumors. A significant decrease in mortality occurs when EA surgery is used.