Mr Kumar Abhinav

Dr Kumar Abhinav is a Consultant Neurosurgeon with extensive expertise in complex cranial surgery, including skull base, pituitary, and cerebrovascular neurosurgery. He is an internationally renowned neurosurgeon with significant expertise in skull base surgery focussing on the use of minimally invasive approaches like expanded endoscopic endonasal techniques (operation carried out using nose as a corridor to the base of the skull) and transorbital surgery (using eye socket as a corridor to the skull base) to approach pathologies like pituitary adenomas (acromegaly, Cushing's), meningiomas including in skull base, craniopharyngiomas, schwannomas and epidermoid among others.

He takes pride in using these minimally invasive corridors in addition to open craniotomy if needed and is among a handful of surgeons internationally who uses these approaches in a tailored fashion taking into account patients' conditions and their specific needs to ensure the best clinical and surgical outcome.

He has a particular interest also in surgical management of complex pituitary functioning tumours like acromegaly, skull base meningiomas, paediatric skull base pathologies including craniopharyngioma and skull base chordomas and chondrosarcomas and has helped patients nationally and internationally with these pathologies.

His practice also encompasses the management of brain aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, cavernous malformations, pineal and ventricular lesions, Chiari malformations, hydrocephalus and degenerative spinal conditions.

Dr Abhinav trained in neurosurgery through the South-West national programme (Bristol/Plymouth) and went on to undertake two prestigious clinical operative fellowships over two years at the Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University, USA. Under the mentorship of Professor Gary K. Steinberg at the Stanford University, USA, he focused on open cerebrovascular neurosurgery over one year followed by a further year at Stanford University, USA focussing on skull base neurosurgery obtaining advanced training in open and expanded endoscopic endonasal approaches under the mentorship of  Professor Juan C. Fernandez-Miranda. To lay the foundation for the clinical operative fellowships, he also undertook 2 years of dedicated surgical neuronatomy and imaging research at the prestigious Center for Skull Base Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre (UPMC), Pittsburgh, USA.

As a regular invited guest faculty, he has trained surgeons internationally in prestigious surgical courses in  countries like the UK, Greece, Spain, India, United States of America and Switzerland. Similarly in Bristol he has set up and directs an internationally renowned skull base course now in its fourth edition training surgeons from all over the world.

His scientifc research rooted in surgical neuroanatomy and refining surgical techniques for patients with skull base and vascular pathologies and surgical results have led to almost 50 peer reviewed publications in prestigious journals like the Neurosurgery, Journal of Neurosurgery and Operative Neurosurgery and multiple presentations in scientific meetings around the world including invited lectures in prestigious meetings like the North American Skull Base Society, European Society of Endocrinology, Argentine Society of Neurosurgery and Society of British Neurosurgeons among others.

As an honorary lecturer in the Department of Anatomy, University of Bristol, Bristol and founding director of the Bristol Complex Cranial Surgical Laboratory, he continues to refine the surgical techniques for his patients by undertaking dedicated research studies.

He graduated with a BSc in Radiological Sciences (2002) and an MBBS (2005) from King’s College London, before completing his FRCS (Neurosurgery) in 2016 and MD based upon his 2-year research work carried out at the UPMC, Pittsburgh, USA in 2020.

Dr Abhinav practices at Southmead Hospital and Spire Hospital, Bristol.