Always adopting a considered, caring approach, Professor Arun Ranganathan is an outstanding spinal surgeon, who is widely regarded as one of the finest spinal surgeons in the UK. He has operated on many international dignitaries, royal family members and professional sports people. Professor Ranganathan is often referred to as the surgeon’s surgeon, operating on other surgeons (including spine specialists) due to his excellent safety record, short recovery times and outstanding results.

A multi-award winner for his research work at an early stage of his career, Professor Ranganathan is an accomplished international speaker, author and teacher in his field and achieved a world first when appearing on national TV performing spinal surgery. He currently holds two prestigious honorary professorial roles, has used his expertise to introduce improvements to spinal surgery in Asia and is a firm advocate of the value of taking a holistic approach to the entire spectrum of spinal pathologies.

Professor Ranganathan is, by nature, an analytical and conservative practitioner who specialises in minimal access and keyhole surgery because it offers the best chance of quick and effective recovery. His experience in all forms of adult and paediatric spinal deformity including osteotomies, complex spinal reconstructions and tumour surgery, is second to none. A firm believer in the value of adopting a multi-disciplinary team approach and, with this ethos in mind, he established London Spine Care, a collective of the best surgeons, physiotherapists, osteopaths and pain experts to deliver holistic care for all spinal problems. In April 2019, he carried out spine straightening scoliosis surgery on Operation Live, a Channel 5 programme, nominated for a BAFTA in the category best live event in June 2020. This live surgery was a world first and is now used to inform and educate patients about the surgery itself.

His exceptional talent was recognised at the relatively young age for a complex spinal surgeon, when, at 35, he was selected to set up the paediatric service and the new adult spinal service at Bart’s Health NHS Trust.

His surgical training was carried out at the renowned centres in Nottingham, London, Leeds and Newcastle. Following his training, he was selected for the prestigious adult and paediatric spinal fellowships in both orthopaedic surgery and neurosurgery of the spine under leading global spinal consultants, Dr Stephen Lewis and Professor Michael Fehlings, on the highly regarded AO North America Advanced Spine fellowship from Krembil Neurosciences Centre and Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. University of Toronto and at the Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto.

Professor Ranganathan’s research work at the Sir Peter Mansfield Centre was rewarded with a doctorate degree in spinal surgery from the University of Nottingham in 2008. In both 2004 and 2009, he again displayed his appetite and talent for research, becoming the youngest winner of the ISSLS (formerly Volvo) prize for the best spinal research work worldwide. 2004 also saw him win the Britspine Award for Best Spinal Research in UK, with 2009 seeing him earn the Spine Society of Australia award for best international research work.

He is one of only a handful of UK spinal surgeons to be in receipt of a National Institute of Health Sciences Research (NIHR) Grant and worked as chief investigator of PRESTO (Pragmatic Randomised Evaluation of Stable Thoracolumbar fracture treatment Outcomes) a multi-centre national trial looking into the treatment of thoracolumbar spine fractures.

Professor Ranganathan works extensively with a number of charities and countries, providing his surgical services and helping develop the surgical skills and adoption of new technology. He often combines bringing the latest developments and technology with his charity work to leave a legacy in the countries he visits. This includes his work to train the surgeons of the future in these countries and giving them the confidence to tackle some of the more difficult surgical cases that would otherwise not be undertaken. He has performed surgery across much of India, Vietnam, Nepal and other parts of South East Asia and is a sought-after speaker and teacher at spine conferences globally.

He has a very active mind and is constantly working to improve the care that he gives and the techniques and technology we adopt to deliver the care. With this in mind, he is involved in virtual and augmented reality device development, robotics and navigation as well as new implants and instrumentation, as he strives to achieve the best possible outcome for not only his, but all patients in the future.

Health and fitness play a big part in Professor Ranganathan’s leisure time. He is a former national standard tennis player, marathon runner, enjoys strength and conditioning and is an accomplished mountaineer, tackling some of the world’s highest peaks.

Spinal surgery
Degenerative spinal conditions
Spinal deformity
Spinal infections
Cancers of the spine