A 48-year-old woman with gonarthrosis has been among the first patients in Bulgaria, who have been operated with the application of the latest method for knee replacement worldwide. The intervention was performed by Assoc. Prof. Kalin Mihov and a team at the Clinic of Orthopedics and Traumatology at UMHAT “St. Marina” in Varna. “This has been the second patient in the country to whom we have applied the innovative technology we have been working on since the beginning of the year. Four other patients are to be operated on very soon. They have already been planned for a surgery, and currently their joints are being manufactured in Switzerland. I believe that this method will become a routine intervention at our Clinic in Varna,” explains Assoc. Prof. Mihov, who is the head of the only Clinic in Bulgaria that has been certified and standardized to perform this surgical procedure and to use this type of implant.
The main indication for the application of the innovative customized knee joint is in cases of gonarthrosis, when all other treatment options have proved to be ineffective. Total customized knee replacement is a solution in patients, especially in young and active people, who need complete restoration of the function and the range of movement of the limb, and rapid return to an active lifestyle. The specialist explains that total customized knee prosthesis is manufactured on the basis of a three-dimensional scanner according to the shape, dimensions, radius and curvature of the patient's normal knee before the onset of the arthrosis. The implant manufacture in Switzerland takes between three and four months, and the final product contains customized specific bone resection tools and customized samples, fully tailored to the anatomical features of the patient. “This guarantees safety, sterility and reduction of the blood loss during the implantation,” says Assoc. Prof. Kalin Mihov and explains that the complete restoration of the patient's functions takes place in two-three months, and the movement begins on the day of the operation with the help of crutches.
The 48-year-old patient said that she had made the decision to undergo that innovative surgery because it reduced the risk of subsequent complications and reoperations. "I have explored the treatment options in Bulgaria and I have put my trust in Assoc. Prof. Kalin Mihov at UMHAT "St. Marina" in Varna. Now, two days after the intervention, I am happy for having made this decision. Before the surgery, I was completely calm and confident about the final outcome."
"Up to now customized knee replacement has been performed at UMHAT "St. Marina" in Varna, for which only specific tools have been created which ensures only the precise resection of the joint surfaces and their replacement with standard knee implants, which have one and the same radii and curvatures. They do not always fit precisely, and different techniques for fitting and selecting the smaller or larger implant have to be used according to the situation, but the result has always been a compromise between the function and balance of the knee joint," Prof. Mihov explains. "Now with the manufacture of a total customized product, doctors have the opportunity to fully restore the movement axes, rotation centres, the shape of the condyles, curvature, dimensions - absolutely everything, without any tension in the soft tissues and without burdening the muscles, joints, tendons, which are in fact a generator of pain and a cause of complaints after knee replacement.
In May, one of the fathers of this prosthesis is expected to arrive in Bulgaria - the French Professor Michel Bonnin, who is the Chairman of the French Society for Knee and Hip Prosthesis and one of the world leaders in prosthetics in general. He is going to perform several demonstration operations at the Annual Congress of the Bulgarian Society of Arthroscopy and the Society of Knee Surgery, which has gained a lot of popularity over the last years. More than 300 people are expected to attend the forum this year, with registrations, already underway from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Turkey.
Velina Markovska
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