About me

I was born in 1979 in Ljubljana. After graduating from Poljanska Gymnasium, I studied medicine at the Medical Faculty of the University of Ljubljana and graduated in 2004. In 2012 I completed a specialization in orthopedic surgery with honors (“Cum Laude”) at the Orthopedic Clinic of the University Clinical Center in Ljubljana. After that, I accepted a position at the Valdoltra Orthopedic Hospital in the Department of Spine Surgery. In 2016, I successfully defended my doctoral dissertation at the Medical Faculty of the University of Ljubljana. I acquired additional in-depth knowledge abroad, including Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, and the Netherlands. In 2018, Eurospine, the umbrella European professional organization, awarded me the Eurospine Diploma, ensuring that my spine treatment knowledge is standardized by European doctrine. In 2022 I completed an AO Spine fellowship at the Neurosurgical department, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München. Since 2017, I have been cooperating with the Department of Orthopedics, Faculty of Medicine, the University of Ljubljana, where I teach clinical orthopedics to medical students.

I am honored to perform the role of the primary mentor to residents in orthopedic surgery, a role assigned to me by the Medical Chamber of Slovenia. 

The highest recognition of my spine surgeon career so far has been the achievement of active membership in the prestigious professional organization Scoliosis Research Society (SRS), which brings together approximately 1,500 of the world’s best surgeons in treating spinal deformities. I am the first and only Slovene to have been granted such a privilege to achieve the strictest professional criteria.

During my surgical practice, I performed more than 1000 operations on the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral spine of degenerative, deformity, injury, tumor, and inflammatory pathology, registred in the Spine Tango international registry. Most of these are among the most demanding spinal surgeries, i. e., adult and pediatric deformities and revision procedures (repair of the condition after a previous, unsuccessful operation). My thinking and execution of any surgical procedure are based on the principle of MIMO (minimum access, maximal outcome); during the operation, I ensure that the effect of treatment is achieved with collateral tissue damage being is as minimal as possible. For me, the term “minimally invasive” does not mean only a minimal incision of the skin but a comprehensive execution of the operation focusing on preserving the tissue layers and structures during all phases of the procedure. I achieve this with an in-depth and meticulously designed operation plan unique to each patient, using appropriate image-guidance devices, retractors that do not damage the tissue, and the magnification of the operative field (surgical loupes, operating microscope). An additional key to successful surgery is impeccable surgical technique and the use of state-of-the-art materials and implants.

In instrumental revisions and reconstructions of spinal deformities, I use 3D printed patient-specific guides to prepare the pedicle screw hole into the bone, allowing the most accurate position among all the described techniques. As a pioneer in the use of this technology, which represents the future of spinal surgery, and more than eight years of experience and innovation in this field, I can ensure that even the most technically demanding procedure is safe, performed in the shortest possible time, with minimal blood loss and minimal possible electromagnetic radiation for the patient.

The holistic approach teaches us that the final result of the procedure depends on the sum of the successes of all interacting phases of the operation and that surgical treatment begins with proper examination and preoperative treatment and ends with appropriate postoperative rehabilitation. With this principle, I want to help patients whose non-surgical treatment options for the spine or previous surgery have not brought them an adequate quality of life.

Suppose you want a different opinion, a comprehensive examination, or an above-standard performance of spine surgery; In that case, I invite you to book an appointment in one of the institutions where I provide these services.