Scoliosis is a condition in which the spine curves and rotates, often leading to back pain, leg pain, difficulty standing upright, and loss of quality of life. While some patients benefit from non-surgical treatment, others may require surgery when symptoms become severe or the spinal deformity progresses.
Serving as Director of Minimally Invasive Scoliosis Surgery for Och Spine at Columbia-NewYork-Presbyterian, Dr. Chan specializes in complex minimally invasive techniques to correct scoliosis while minimizing disruption to the muscles and surrounding tissues. Through small incisions, specialized implants are placed between the vertebrae from the side or front of the spine to restore alignment and improve spinal balance. The spinal correction is then completed using screws inserted through small skin incisions—using image-guided technology—and patient-specific rods inserted beneath the muscles.
Compared with traditional open scoliosis surgery, minimally invasive techniques can reduce blood loss, postoperative pain, hospital length of stay, and recovery time while providing excellent correction in appropriately selected patients.
Dr. Chan has extensive experience with minimally invasive scoliosis surgery and regularly lectures nationally and internationally on advanced deformity correction techniques. He remains committed to offering patients the latest evidence-based surgical approaches designed to maximize safety, improve recovery, and achieve durable long-term outcomes.
Learn more: Watch Dr. Chan give a lecture on Minimally Invasive Scoliosis surgery:
Every patient is different, and Dr. Chan believes scoliosis surgery should be individualized rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach. Whenever possible, he performs the smallest operation necessary to address each patient’s symptoms while preserving spinal mobility. For some patients, this may mean treating only the symptomatic portion of the curve instead of performing a long spinal fusion.
Learn more: See Dr. Chan’s published surgical video demonstrating focal fractional curve treatment, an innovative technique that addresses only the symptomatic portion of a scoliosis curve in carefully selected patients
