He is the first one to carry out percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy under local anesthesia for disc prolapse in this part of the country (Transforaminal and interlaminar without stitches).
He is the first surgeon to use INSPACE – interspinous implant for lumbar canal stenosis (keyhole spine surgery local anesthesia).
He also initiated the 3D printed spinal implant and performed more than thousand spine surgeries including scoliosis, cervical spine pathologies, thoracotomies, laparotomy, disc replacement surgeries.
He has received the prestigious Mohandas Weller Gold Medal and Fellowship Award, Indo German Orthopedic Foundation, India in 2017, Best Publication award in Tamil Nadu Orthopedic Association Journal (2010) for Morphometric evaluation of the Cervical Spine Pedicle in our Population, Tamil Nadu Orthopedic Association Traveling Spine Fellowship award in 2006 and ASSI (Association of spine surgeons of India) Traveling Spine Fellowship award in 2005.
He is the member of Indian Medical Association (IMA); Tamil Nadu Orthopedic Association; Orthopedic Association of South Indian States (OASIS); Association of Spine Surgeons of India (ASSI); and Asian Academy of Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery.
He passed MBBS from Rajah Muthiah Dental College Hospital, Annamalai University in 1994 MS in Orthopedics from Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai in 2000; and DNB in Orthopedics/Orthopedic Surgery from Medical Council of India in 2001. Dr. Karunakaran has attended training on Interlaminar Percutaneous Endoscopic Cervical and Lumbar Spine Surgery with Dr. Sebastian Ruetten, at St. Anna Hospital, Herne, Germany in 2012. He also attended advanced training for Endoscopic Spine Surgery under Dr.Anthony Yeung, Phoenix, USA in 2012.
