Vikas Varma, MD

SPECIALTY
Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery
Complex and Revision Spine Surgery
Motion Preserving Spine Surgery
Scoliosis, Kyphosis, and Spinal Deformity Surgery

BOARD-CERTIFIED
American Board of Orthopedic Surgery

SPINE SURGERY FELLOWSHIP
San Diego Center for Spinal Disorders: San Diego, CA

ORTHOPEDIC SURGERY RESIDENCY
University of Connecticut: Farmington, CT

MEDICAL SCHOOL
University of Maryland; Baltimore, MD
Research Fellow, Erasmus University, Netherlands

UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOL
Cornell University, College of Arts and Science

*accelerated coursework Johns Hopkins University and University of Chicago

Dr. Vikas V. Varma

Vikas V. Varma, MD, is a fellowship-trained and board-certified orthopedic surgeon at Manhattan Orthopedics, with locations in Midtown Manhattan, and Astoria, in New York. He embraces a patient-centered approach to shared decision making, with an emphasis on understanding patients as people, and getting them back to their active lifestyles as soon as possible. In this regard, Dr. Varma combines his unique skills and training to use minimally invasive surgical techniques whenever possible. A meticulous surgeon, Dr. Varma comes from a family of physicians and prides himself on his ethical, personalized, detail-oriented approach to patient care

An experienced surgeon, and surgeon educator, Dr. Varma has been invited to speak at domestic and international spine meetings to share his knowledge and expertise. He is widely respected in Manhattan, having taking care of thousands of patients in the greater New York City area, traveling patients from other parts of the country, as well international patients. He is known for his advanced technical surgical skills, as well as a thorough, conservative and compassionate multimodal approach to spine care. Dr. Varma specializes in the treatment of common adult degenerative conditions such as stenosis, spondylolisthesis, and herniated discs, as well as complex conditions such as spinal deformity surgery and revision surgery.

He received his undergraduate bachelor’s degrees from Cornell University, where he was a 4-year Division I athlete. He also completed accelerated coursework at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Chicago. He then received his doctorate in medicine from the University of Maryland prior to matriculating to the University of Connecticut, where he completed a surgical internship followed by a residency in Orthopedic Surgery, serving as Orthopedics Chief Resident. After residency he furthered his orthopedics training completing a sports medicine fellowship, focused on treating college and professional athletes.

He was then selected as a fellow in the San Diego Spine Fellowship, under the direct tutelage of Dr. Behrooz Akbarnia, a world-renowned spine surgeon, and former president of the prestigious Scoliosis Research Society, the leading international society for the study of complex spine conditions. During his fellowship year, Dr. Varma treated many domestic and international patients with complex and rare spinal conditions in both the adult and pediatric populations, including major spinal reconstruction for spinal deformity, and revision surgery. He also was fortunate to receive training in advanced minimally invasive surgery and motion preservation surgery as a part of the comprehensive fellowship program.

From 2009 until 2024 Dr. Varma served as an Assistant Professor in the Icahn School of Medicine and faculty in the department of Orthopedic Surgery and the Mt. Sinai Spine Fellowship. He has served as the Chief of Spine Surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital of Queens and Saint Barnabas Hospital. Dr. Varma has a special interest in minimally invasive spine surgery, having performed the first Extreme Lateral Interbody Fusion(XLIF) at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in 2009, and the first Oblique Lateral Interbody Fusion (OLIF) at Mount Sinai in 2017. He is routinely involved in teaching surgeons around the country as well as international surgeons, regarding these advanced techniques.

In 2024 he was recruited to join the faculty in the Department of Orthopedics at Lenox Hill Hospital, and the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. This marked the beginning of the Lenox Hill Spine Robotics program. His interests include complex spine surgery, revision spine surgery, spinal deformity surgery, as well as special expertise in minimally invasive surgery, as well as Spinal Navigation and Robotics. He currently serves as the Director of Outpatient Spine Surgery.