He has been performing minimally invasive and complex spinal surgery for 20+ years and has built his reputation on his conservative approach to surgery.
A/Prof Parkinson was the first neurosurgeon in Australia to be trained in percutaneous spine surgery (endoscopic / keyhole spine surgery, commonly referred to as “ultra minimally invasive spine surgery”), same-day microdiscectomy (microdecompression) surgery, and brain aneurysm treatments.
He is passionate about the long-term reduction of pain and improved function for patients following spine surgery, which he achieves through a focus on impeccable surgical skills developed over a lengthy career, as well as a focus on post-surgical rehabilitation.
A/Prof Parkinson is committed to ongoing training and development, as well as embracing new operative technologies that assist neurosurgeons to reduce variability when operating, which help to increase the reproducibility of surgical outcomes for patients.
He was then accepted into a training placement in the USA, where he undertook a sub-specialised spine surgery training fellowship at the prestigious Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago – a leading high-volume spinal surgery centre of excellence – which he completed under the guidance of internationally recognised luminary neurosurgeons; Professor Richard Fessler and Professor Hunt Batjer.
During his time training in the USA, A/Prof Parkinson was exposed to a wide range of clinical presentations and advanced technologies, such as endoscopic spine surgery, which he brought back to his clinic in Australia.
A/Prof Parkinson was the first neurosurgeon in Australia to be trained in neuro-intervention, including:
He routinely performs percutaneous (endoscopic) spinal fusion surgery and has one of the largest series of patients of any neurosurgeon in Australia.
While in the USA in 2011, A/Prof Parkinson assisted Professor Rick Fessler in the second-ever, direct spinal cord stem cell transplant, which was performed at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
In 2022, A/Prof Parkinson undertook training on the revolutionary NuVasive Pulse 3D spine surgery platform, which is available at St Vincent’s Private Hospital Sydney (the only location in Australia offering the platform).
The Pulse 3D platform combines a range of operating theatre technologies, such as “smart imaging” (reduced radiation) with 3D-image rendering software, robotic navigation instrument guidance arrays and integrated neuromonitoring, which when combined, enables neurosurgeons to perform spine surgery more accurately and importantly, with significantly reduced radiation exposure for the patient vs. normal spine surgery performed elsewhere.
Please get in touch with our reception team if you have a general enquiry for A/Prof Parkinson, or your would like to book an appointment.
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