Mr Masood Shafafy MBBS FRCS(Orth)

Mr Shafafy CV

CLINICAL EXPERIENCE

Mr Masood Shafafy is an internationally recognised Consultant Spinal Surgeon who specialises in the treatment of complex spinal conditions in both adults and children. On the National Heath Service he is an established consultant at ‘Centre for Spinal Studies and Surgery’ at Queens Medical Centre Nottingham – one of the leading centres for spinal research, surgery and training in the world.
Through his private work in the East Midlands and London’s Harley Street, Mr Shafafy is also able to offer the latest, most advanced and minimally invasive techniques to help those suffering from conditions causing spinal deformities and spinal related pains.

Mr Shafafy has a particular interest in treating children with complex spinal deformities and often performs pioneering surgeries that help considerably to enhance the quality of his patient’s lives.
He has worked extensively with adolescents suffering from a condition called ‘scoliosis’, which is where the spine twists or curves leading to a crooked, uneven appearance. In order to improve outcome, Mr Shafafy is continually working to develop techniques to improve outcomes for these children.
Previous treatments for this illness in younger children have involved regular invasive surgeries with a long and painful recovery after that.
MAGEC (MAGNetic Expansion Control) is a system that allows for the correction of spinal deformity in young children using minimally invasive techniques that reduce the number of operations, the length of post- operative recovery time alongside pain, scarring and risk of complication in comparison to traditional methods.

The procedure involves inserting metal rods to support the spine that are periodically lengthened at intervals using magnets. This enables the child to continue growing, whilst correcting the spinal deformity.
Mr Shafafy was amongst the first group of surgeons in the UK and Europe to utilize this technique.

The Father of one of Mr Shafafy’s first patients who had MAGEC system later said ;
“It’s changed his life massively. It means there isn’t intrusive surgery every six months and he does not have the same scars. It makes a massive difference. He’s grown from 4 9 to 5 3 already since the operation. It’s taking away all that risk of being in operating theatres and being under anaesthetic and having all those procedures.”

13 year old K another patient of Mr Shafafy recently has written;

“I don’t remember the first couple of days so I can’t describe them, but when I was on the ward it was so painful at first and I do remember getting up for the first time and I felt so weird because I was so much taller. Now at this point in time I feel so much better and I am so glad I had it done it’s made so much of an impact on my life, I look back at photos and wonder how I ever did it. I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who helped me, especially Dr Shafafy he was so good to me and he was the kindest and most thoughtful man I have ever met he changed my life for the better. I am so happy with myself now and I feel so much more confident!”
She also forwarded her pre and post op x-rays which she keeps in her mobile as a testimony of how surgery has changed her life.

Mr Shafafy’s deployment of effective cutting-edge surgical techniques also extends to his treatment of adult spinal deformities. Again, he was amongst the first group of spinal surgeons in the UK to use certain minimally invasive approaches such as operating through flank to help treat patients and improve their recovery and outcome from corrective spinal surgery.
In the treatment of painful vertebral spinal fractures that usually present as a result of osteoporosis or injury, and also when tumours involve the spine , Mr Shafafy uses advance minimally invasive techniques such as Vertebroplasty, Kyphoplasty and Vertebral body stenting.

In addition to playing a prominent role in developing new techniques to improve outcomes for patients with complex spinal conditions, Mr Shafafy also helps those suffering from more common complaints such as disc prolapse or degeneration or spinal stenosis. In treating these conditions, he tries to employ less or minimally invasive techniques to control the symptoms such as back, buttocks, leg pain and sciatica until the natural history of such conditions which is often resolution of symptoms prevail. In doing so, he utilizes spinal injection and in certain and suitable cases percutaneous laser and radiofrequency treatments.

Academic Interests, Pursuits & Research

Although Mr Shafafy’s career focus has mainly been on technical and practical spinal surgery, along which he has tutored and been a trainer in numerous Cadveric, practical and live spinal surgical courses, academically, he has published numerous articles in peer reviewed journals. He has frequently presented scientific papers in National and international meetings and is still leading several research projects in different aspects of spinal pathology and surgery. He is a reviewer for European Spine Journal and Journal of Neurosurgery and has sat in many spine related committees. He is currently a member of patient education committee, and growing spine committee of Scoliosis Research Society. He has been a faculty, chairman and lectured in numerous national and international spinal courses. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the British Orthopaedic Association. He is a member of the British Medical Association, the British Association of Spine Surgeons, the British Scoliosis Society, International AO Spine, Spine Society of Europe and North American Spinal Society.

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