Symposium around knee and hip in Lienz
4. International meeting on innovative endoprosthetics at the regional hospital.
Chronik · 17. September 2017 · Redaktion
"Endoprostheses are implants that remain permanently in the body and completely or partially replace the damaged body parts. The most famous are probably the artificial hip joints.“ Thus Wikipedia describes endoprosthetics, a medical specialty (field) in which the orthopaedic specialists (surgeons) of the regional hospital BKH Lienz enjoy a very good reputation. The specialised centre for orthopaedics, the BKH Lienz, is a reference centre and also a training area for innovative knee and hip endoprosthetics. This was the topic of the fourth meeting of international orthopaedists in Lienz, which was prepared and organised by Doctors Herbert Strobl and Valjdet Saciri, who have welcomed approximately 70 colleagues in the Dolomites. The organisers of the meeting with guests from Switzerland. From left: Prof. Niklaus Friederich (Basel), Dr. Samuel Blatter (Winterthur), Dr. Neither Helmy (Solothurn), Dr. Herbert Strobl and Dr. Valjdet Saciri. Among the speakers were some important names in the field of orthopaedics, specialists (surgeons) from clinics in Berlin, Lausanne, Zurich, Vienna and Paris. The first day, lectures and discussions, were dedicated to the hip joint, with the second day dedicated to the knee. The two organisers also joined the meeting as speakers. Dr. Herbert Strobl talked about his twelve years of experience with minimally invasive hip surgery and how more than a thousand patients have been successfully operated on using this method in Lienz. Dr. Valjdet Saciri presented the specialised institutions with new models of knee prostheses that have been used in Lienz for three years.
Kleine Zeitung
Orthopaedic experts meet in East Tyrol
The fourth International Symposium on innovative hip and knee endoprosthetics will take place in Lienz. Experts from all over the world will discuss the innovations and complications.
By Karina Hartweger | 12.00 Uhr, 16. September 2017
Today, 70 doctors from all over the world will be in Lienz to discuss minimally invasive hip surgery and knee replacement surgery. The meeting was organised by Dr. Herbert Strobl and Dr. Valjdet Saciti from the Orthopaedic Centre in Lienz. Also, Manfred Kuschnig will be present, the Medical Director of the Department of Orthopaedics at the Elisabethinen-Krankenhaus Klagenfurt hospital. Both hospitals are regarded as reference centres for this surgical technique, also called the AMIS method (Anterior Minimally Invasive Surgery). "The exchange of experience is indispensable in terms of quality assurance. We all learn from mistakes", says Dr. Strobl. For Dr. Kuschnig there is much to underline: "The patients are changing, they are younger, born in the 1960s. Reasons are habits, diet, and also that the tissue does not get better over the years."
Skin Incision
It is also important to point out to the surgeons that the AMIS method is not designed to have a particularly small cut, but the procedure is carried out in such a way that the patient returns as soon as possible to their daily routine. "This means that muscles, tendons and ligaments are not damaged," explains Dr. Strobl. Between 500 and 600 surgical operations are performed annually in Lienz Orthopaedics, of which 150 are hip and 100 knee prosthesis surgeries. "The number of knee prostheses has risen in recent years, as technology has evolved and the patient has become less hostile than before", says Dr. Saciri.
Lectures of internationally recognised orthopaedic experts at the BKH Lienz hospital.
In the middle of September 2017, the district hospital in Lienz was the site of a high-calibre medical congress.
More than 70 orthopaedists and surgeons exchanged opinions on technical innovations and latest innovative findings in the field of hip and knee endoprosthetics. The scientific leaders and organisers of the 4th International Hip and Knee Symposium, OA Dr. Valjdet Saciri and FA Dr. Herbert Strobl, were able to involve internationally renowned luminaries for lectures, Dr. Frederic Laude, Prof. Dr. Olivier Borens and Prof. Dr. F. Niklaus Friedrich.
The heads of the specialist centre for orthopaedics and orthopaedic surgery at BKH Lienz, FA Dr. Herbert Strobl and OA Dr. Valjdet Saciri, "The event was a complete success, confirmed by positive feedback reports," says FA Dr. Herbert Strobl. Together with OA Dr. Valjdet Saciri, he is responsible for the orthopaedics and orthopaedic surgery centre, which was installed at BKH Lienz in 2003. In the meantime, the facility has developed into a renowned reference and training centre for the minimally invasive surgery of hip and knee endoprostheses. “Here in Lienz we treat and operate at an international level and are not affected by any major medical centres," says OA Dr. Saciri on the high quality of the treatment offer in Osttirol's largest medical facility. Knee and hip problems, according to the two surgeons, are no longer only for the elderly. "While the artificial joint replacement used to be associated with long rehabilitation times, minimally invasive surgical techniques now ensure very patient-friendly methods. The results are impressive. A large percentage of patients can already be mobilised on the first post-operative day."
What kind of advantages the modern hip replacement can have on the hip joint? "Since 2005, we have been using the AMIS technology at BKH Lienz. The access path to the diseased hip joint is made through a small skin incision, so the muscles and tendons are protected. This method of implanting a hip endoprosthesis has become a common, tried and tested method that has proved to be very safe and effective. Today hip replacement surgery is one of the most successful surgical operations used in trauma cases. The patients who suffer from an osteoarthritis demonstrated significant pain reduction, a significantly improved quality of life and a large increase in mobility both short and long term", explains FA Dr. Herbert Strobl.
“The development does not stop, the techniques always grow faster and better and also the materials are becoming ever more durable”, is one of the core statements of the Dr. Frederic Laude from the Clinique Paris said to the surgeons at Lienz. Dr. Laude has carried out pioneering work and has developed hip surgery from the front according to the AMIS method. From the discussions with him and the other symposium participants Dr. Strobl and Dr. Saciri also gain the insight that much more worldwide periprosthetic infections occur during joint replacement than previously. "The good news for the patients is that today, with this infection, but with an optimal diagnosis / therapy concept and with the necessary patience, we can ensure treatment success rates of over 90 percent," Valjdet Saciri notes." Various methods of periprosthetic infections therapy were presented to us by one of the experts in this field, Prof. Dr. Olivier Borens of the Swiss Center Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois. "In this context it’s interesting to note that smaller hospitals clearly have the advantage in respect of the large hospitals regarding the contamination of germs."This is clearly demonstrated by scientific studies!"
The second focus of the symposium in Lienz was on knee endoprosthetics. Here the experts confirmed the success of the implantation "MyKnee" method. "Prior to the operation, CT or MRI images from the radiological examination of the knee are used to produce an individual 3D model. On the basis of this important preliminary work, it is possible to proceed with the implantation in such a way that substantially better results regarding the mobility and also the longevity of the endoprosthesis are achieved.
The prosthesis is fixed into the bone in a better way during the surgery and remains in its optimal position", says OA Dr. Saciri. "It is important to remember that the knee is a very complicated joint with a special biomechanics. In contrast to other joints, such as the hip, it does not have a strong surrounding muscular mantle. It is exposed to great mechanical loads as a weight-bearing joint and is therefore very vulnerable to injury." “Medical research in knee endoprosthetics" - concludes OA Dr. Saciri - "is going in the direction of avoiding cartilage in order to avoid damage to cartilage without therapies. Prof. Dr. F. Niklaus Friedrich of the University Hospital in Basel, a well-known expert in this field, has taught us in his lecture that digital surgical techniques will play an increasingly important role in the future."
