DrPawandeep Sarai

I am a specialist trainee in Anaesthetics, currently taking time out of training to undertake a PhD in Clinical Medicine Research at Imperial College London.

Project title: Novel Monitoring Techniques in Vascular Surgery.

PhD Supervisors: Dr Paul H Strutton (Senior Lecturer in Clinical Neurophysiology) and Mr. Colin D Bicknell (Senior Clinical Lecturer in Vascular Surgery)

Supporting Clinical Supervisor: Dr. Nathalie Coutois (Consultant Anaesthetist)

Project summary: Ischaemic spinal cord injury following thoraco-abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery is a devastating complication, resulting in paralysis. It is associated with increased morbidity and mortality, as well as a huge health-ecomonic burden.

Remedial interventions to prevent spinal cord injury are usually not guided by any objective neurophysiological measurements. Although intra-operative monitoring of the spinal cord is available, its use is limited by many disadvantages, such as pain and the need for anaesthesia. Since a significant proportion of spinal cord injury can occur post-operatively, there is a need for a spinal cord monitor that is more accessible and can be used in the non-anaesthetised patient.

My project aims to investigate the use of non-invasive technologies as possible intra-operative and post-operative monitors of spinal cord integrity, which can be used to detect and prevent ischaemic damage of the spinal cord during thoraco-abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery.

This project is a collaboration between the Department of Anaesthetics at St Mary's Hospital and the Nick Davey Laboratory, part of the MSk Lab at Imperial College London.