Youngsters form bulk of patients with brain-related injuries in Oman as road accidents are a major cause of head injuries, according to a top neurologist here.

Dr Santosh Laad, a senior Consultant and Head of Neurosurgical Department at the Al Khoula Hospital, told Gulf News yesterday that high-speed road accidents are a major cause of head injuries. "High speed accidents not only cause head injuries but also other poly traumas."

The department has grown from a two-bed facility to a 70-bed ward, equipped with a 22-bed neuro-intensive care unit.

Khoula Hospital recently opened two modern, dedicated neurosurgical operation theatres with sophisticated operating microscopes, as well as image intensifiers.

The department already boasts a laser machine, micro-instruments, pre-operative ultrasound, Stereotactic Leksell frame, and dedicated remote controlled operating tables. Neuro-endoscopy and neuro-navigation systems are proposed to be added in the near future.

Work on the first open-ended MRI Scan is underway and it will become operational in the first quarter of 2003. More than 5,000 operations have been performed by the Neurosurgery Department since 1985.

The department is also expected to participate in research projects sponsored by the Medical Research Council of the UK.

"We agree that our progress has been significant but interaction with peers is always healthy," Dr Laad said.

He is driving force behind the first Neurosurgical Conference, which starts today at the Salalah Holiday Inn, in Oman. Four eminent international neurosurgeons were among 200 delegates who will attend the conference.

He said: "Oman neurosurgery has maintained its relations with the international neurosurgical forum.

"It is extremely difficult for the junior doctors and nurses to travel outside to interact with their peers and eminent surgeons. So we have invited top experts here so that our staff gain more knowledge about the latest developments in neurosurgery."

The two-day event, hosted jointly by the Directorate General of Health Services in the Dhofar and Muscat regions, will be inaugurated today by Dr Ahmed bin Abdulqadir Al Ghassani, Health Affairs Undersecretary.

The keynote speakers are Professor Alan Crockard, Professor of Neurosurgery, and Dr Ian Calder, Consultant Neuro-anaesthestist, from the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases in London, Prof. Manoj Virani of Mumbai and Prof. A.K. Banerjee of New Delhi.

Doctors of the Department of Neurosurgery at Khoula Hospital and Sultan Qaboos Hospital, Salalah, will present 20 papers. The conference will address a wide range of issues.