top of page
Dr David Tan performing minimally invasive spine surgery in Adelaide

Dr David Tan

MBBS (Hons), FRACS
​Consultant Neurosurgeon & Spine Surgeon

 

Dr Tan believes in comprehensive, patient-centred care, ensuring patients are thoroughly informed and supported throughout their treatment. 

 

He also actively participates in medical education, mentoring junior doctors, medical students, and allied health professionals.

About Dr David Tan

Dr David Tan is an accomplished, Australian-trained neurosurgeon and spine surgeon practising in Adelaide. He specialises in managing complex brain and spinal disorders, focusing particularly on minimally invasive spine surgery, brain tumours, and skull base tumours.

​

Dr Tan graduated with honours from Monash University (MBBS) and completed his neurosurgery training at leading Australian centres. Subsequently, he earned his Fellowship from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS). Recognised for his contributions to research, he received the Rob Johnston Award from the Spine Society of Australia.

​

Committed to clinical excellence, Dr Tan undertook a Complex Spinal Surgery Fellowship at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, enhancing his expertise in both neurosurgical and orthopaedic spinal procedures. Additionally, through the Morgan Travel Scholarship, he completed a prestigious Skull Base Fellowship at Vancouver General Hospital, refining advanced endoscopic and microscopic surgical techniques.​

Qualifications

  • MBBS (Hons), Monash University

  • Graduate Diploma in Surgical Anatomy, University of Melbourne

  • Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (Neurosurgery)

  • Spine Fellowship, Royal Adelaide Hospital

  • Skull Base Neurosurgery Fellowship, University of British Columbia & Vancouver General Hospital

Public Appointments

  • Spinal Surgery Unit, Royal Adelaide Hospital

  • Department of Neurosurgery, Royal Adelaide Hospital

  • Department of Neurosurgery, Women’s and Children’s Hospital

Areas of Expertise

Degenerative Spine

  • Disc herniation causing nerve or spinal cord compression

  • Lumbar canal stenosis

  • Radiculopathy, myelopathy

  • Spondylolisthesis

​​

Brain Tumours​

  • Meningiomas

  • Gliomas

  • Metastatic brain tumours

​

​Traumatic Spine Injury

  • Spinal fractures

 

Spinal Tumours​

  • Metastatic spinal tumours

  • Meningiomas

  • Schwannomas

  • Neurofibromas

Skull Base Brain Tumours​

  • Pituitary adenomas managed with endoscopic surgery

  • Skull base meningiomas

  • Vestibular schwannomas (acoustic neuromas)

  • Craniopharyngiomas

  • Rathke cleft cyst

 

Cerebrovascular

  • Cerebral aneurysms

  • Cavernomas

 

Peripheral Nerves​

  • Carpal tunnel syndrome

  • Ulnar neuropathy

  • Schwannomas, Neurofibromas

Traumatic Head Injury​

  • Subdural haematoma

  • Extradural haematoma

  • Skull fractures

 

CSF Disorders

  • Chiari malformation

  • Normal pressure hydrocephalus

  • Idiopathic intracranial hypertension

  • Communicating and obstructive hydrocephalus​

​

Neurovascular Conflict​

  • Trigeminal neuralgia

  • Hemifacial spasm

  • Glossopharyngeal neuralgia

​

bottom of page