AN INNOVATIVE PROCEDURE AT AMC

13 November was a special day at the Art Medical Center. We are extremely proud of the fact, that AMC was the first institution in Europe to conduct an innovative orthopaedic knee joint surgery!!
The procedure was special because the patient – who was suffering from degenerative knee joint disease – received an implant created on a 3D printer. Thanks to this technology, the implant was customised to the patient’s needs. The surgery was conducted by Dr Maciej Karaczun and supervised by specialists from Canada. We want to thank the entire surgical team for their hard work and Massmedica SA and Bodycad for providing the equipment.

Please read the article from TVP Szczecin below:

“Szczecin’s orthopaedist performed pioneering surgery of the knee joint. The implant was customised to the patient suffering from degenerative knee joint disease. The patient will be able to walk again.

Before the specialists took their places at the operating table, they had to do some extensive preparation. There was no room for any surprises. They created the virtual model of the patient’s knee joint from her CAT scan.

“These implants are tailored to the specific patient. We used a computer to reconstruct the bone based on CAT scans and then we created a unique implant for this very patient,” says Hugo Robichaud.

The physicians first performed virtual surgery and then the proper surgery with the finished model. This reduced the risk of error to a minimum. Knee osteotomy is a form of treatment, which protects the joint from progressing degeneration. This method has been known for years, but the implants are customised to fit the patients in the United States and Canada only.
Following in the footsteps of the American and Canadian experts, the orthopaedists of Szczecin were the first to involve 3D printing technology in knee osteotomy. This is supposed to help plan for any potential complications arising in surgery. And it did the trick. The surgery was a success. The patient, who is over 60 years old, had trouble moving. She was experiencing strong pain and her doctors decided that osteotomy is the best solution.

“This is wonderful. The life and future of the patient are saved. The patient will be able to walk, run, exercise. The patient is no longer sentenced to a total prosthetic replacement,” explains Dr Angelika Ziętek-Czeszak, resident physician, Orthopaedics and Traumatology of Bones and Joints.

The patient is now facing months of rehabilitation, after which she will return to full health.

“The surgery was a success, there were no complications. I am very surprised at how the process progressed. The equipment was leading us,” said Dr Maciej Karaczun, orthopaedist.

“According to experts, 45% of society will suffer from degenerative joint disease. Pioneering surgeries like this give hope for a normal life without pain. The customised instruments, everything down to the millimetre, it’s simply brilliant,” says Dr Artur Śliwiński of the AMC Art Medical Center.

Source: szczecin.tvp.pl

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