I want to talk about the work and achievements of Volgograd orthopedists working at the Center for Anthropometric Correction at the Volgograd Regional Hospital of the Russian Railways. There is a reason to talk about the unique Ortopillot complex that was recently used in this Center. Total such complexes in Russia somewhere 7-8 pieces.
I inform you that the Center itself was founded at the beginning of the 90 of the last century by the Doctor of Medical Sciences, Honored Inventor of the Russian Federation Egorov MF (now deceased) with his colleagues after successfully and triumphantly in the year 1992 performed the world's first legal operation on a cosmetic increase in the growth of a healthy man at the age of 42.
Then they began to massively do operations to lengthen and straighten the legs, turning it into a separate area of orthopedics called "anthropometric cosmetology and correction." Nowadays the center is led by associates of Egorov: c.med.s. Barinov A.S. and surgeon of the highest category Shatov V.V. The staff of the Center works a lot and fruitfully to improve the technology of their operations, they constantly receive patents for inventions, follow world technical innovations in orthopedics, trying to implement them in their practice. On this basis, the Center has been cooperating with Czech colleagues for many years: the clinic of Professor Vastla from the town of Sokolov, near Karlovy Vary, and one successful Czech company manufacturing medical equipment, which carefully monitors the achievements in orthopedics, trying to develop the latest equipment for them. This company has managed in many ways to overtake and press on the European markets even German manufacturers of a similar profile.
Our and Czech doctors regularly visit each other to exchange medical and technical experience, which brings them tangible mutual benefits. Dr. Barinov and Dr. Shatov, being in the clinic of Professor Vastl, first met the “Ortopilot” complex, which the Czechs acquired for themselves in Germany, 5-6 years ago.
Ortopilot is a computer-controlled surgical navigation system designed to perform particularly precise bone operations. In general, orthopedics, or bone surgery, by complexity takes the second place after neurosurgery, they are already followed by cardiac surgery. The Germans developed Ortopilot, based on the need for endoprosthesis replacement operations, that is, the replacement of the knee joints, and especially the hip joints, which are destroyed by diseases, with artificial endoprosthesis joints. Such operations require surgeons of the highest accuracy and taking into account many important details. Therefore, earlier in the course of the operation it was necessary (and now it is necessary) to use X-ray on an ongoing basis, which, naturally, did not benefit the patient’s organisms, and the doctors as well. "Ortopilot" allowed to remove a lot of problems and dramatically facilitate the work of surgeons.
He acts as follows. At the beginning of the operation, infrared radiation reflectors are installed on the fragments in the right places, which is completely harmless to humans, then the complex emits infrared rays to them, the sensors reflect them, and as a result doctors see a detailed computer model of the operated limb on the large monitor and can using help, without haste, to very precisely manipulate bone fragments during the installation of endoprostheses, completely excluding the possibility of improper splicing.
When Dr. Barinov and Dr. Shatov watched the operations with the Ortopilot complex from the Czechs, took part in them themselves, practically recognizing all the possibilities of the complex, they thought that Ortopilot could be used very successfully in straightening operations. Our doctors have effectively confirmed their conclusions by making such an operation in the Vastla clinic in the Czech Republic. They operated on a Czech patient in whom arthrosis of the knee joints began due to the curvature of the legs. Her straightened operationally straightened her legs, thus eliminating the uneven load on the knee cartilage and stopping their painful destruction. Moreover, if earlier such operations were done by installing Ilizarov’s devices on the lower legs, and then during 10 days using these devices, the fragments of bones were gradually positioned in the desired position, then using Orthopilot, straightening was done simultaneously, right on the operating table, Ilizarov set only to fix the result! "Ortopilot" allowed doctors to make simultaneous straightening not only with the most minimal cuts in the soft tissues of the foot, but also made it possible to carefully take into account the biomechanics of the joints, making the load uniformity on them almost perfect.
The operation of our doctors was filmed on video, and then this video was shown in the process of reports by Dr. Barinov at the All-Czech forum of orthopedists and at the World Ilizarov Congress in St. Petersburg. In both cases, the results reported in the report, the audience welcomed the applause! Well, the applause is well deserved, because the use of the Ortopilot complex has opened up excellent opportunities for carrying out operations for straightening the legs, which is for medical and cosmetic purposes. After all, now they can be done at once and with high precision with minimal cutting of soft tissues. And patients had a choice: either during the operation they would install rods-pins in the bones, thanks to which he would leave the clinic without crutches in a few days after the operation, or plates would be installed to him, because of which he still resembles crutches, but but when the time comes to remove the rods and plates, those who have had the plates will recover faster. And it is possible, as before, after the operation, install Ilizarov’s apparatus on their feet, look like a month, another, not experiencing, as before, discomfort during hardware correction, then they will be removed, and then no problems! But in all cases Ortopilot dramatically reduces the time spent in the clinic, improving the quality of operations.
In the 2015 year, the Center for Anthropometric Correction finally managed to acquire Ortopilot, so its doctors also intend to master the operations of endoprosthesis along with the already mastered straightening of the legs. By the way, analyzing the straightening operation with the help of Ortopilot, our doctors put forward a proposal: to install some of its sensors during the operation, not directly on the bones, but on the Ilizarov apparatus, which will reduce the injury to the bones themselves. The Czechs immediately picked up this idea, and the medical equipment company, which collaborates with the Vastla clinic, quickly developed and began to produce the appropriate mount, a metal "little bag" the length of the little finger. The Czechs, these slow-calm beer drinkers, have the same Slavic mental vitality as all the other representatives of this ethnic group, who gave mankind a great many original scientific and technical achievements, only they have this liveliness manifested more thoroughly and realistically. The company about which I spoke above received for the development of this small attachment from its state 200 thousand euros. And the Center for Anthropometric Cosmetology, which received a bunch of differences in the multitude of Russian innovative competitions for its patents and ideas, received practically no financial support from our state for their implementation. The Czechs organized for the Center the opportunity to participate in the European Union’s science and technology program “Eureka”; this required only the consent of our country, no costs, but under the “Eureka” program the Center could receive serious funding ... But even this failed to break through in time our Ministry of Health and Social Development.
Everything described above is also interesting because the doctors of the Center also practice their operations in the Volgograd regional hospital of war veterans, which initially originated in the vicinity of besieged Stalingrad in 1943 year. Center doctors had to heal veterans of the Afghan war and Chechen campaigns. After all, on the battlefield and in the field hospitals, surgeons usually try to provide assistance to the wounded so that they can then be sent to the rear hospitals without any harm in order to begin a thorough treatment there. Military surgery aims to heal the wounded as soon as possible with maximum preservation of their suitability for return to service. And in this respect, our military surgery has great achievements, especially in curing soft tissue injuries. Things are much more complicated with bone injuries. From time immemorial there is a soldier's saying; if the bones were intact, and the meat was growing ... And when the fighter was injured, the first question he and the doctors asked was: are the bones intact? For even the slightest bone injury is a serious and long-term problem! There is practically no immunity inside the bones, so even the weakest intraosseous infection can in a year or even decades explode with osteomyelitis inflammation, a terrible "caries" that painfully killed veterans of past eras. In the field, surgeons tried to quickly stop the blood, make disinfection, dressing, remove from the pain shock, put the tires, if the bones are injured. Operations were carried out in hospitals, after which plaster was applied or metal clamps were put. Often people came out after treatment with shortened or deformed limbs, bone fragments fused incorrectly. For such cases, there is orthopedic surgery, which then, without haste, should maximally correct these shortcomings. And if osteomyelitis has arisen in the bones, then it must be identified at an early stage and cleaned out by surgery, even cutting out the affected area of the bone, in order to increase this bone. And the fact that the surgeons of the Center managed to adapt Ortopilot for such operations is, in my opinion, a breakthrough experience for military surgery, worthy of early introduction into practice with the widest publicity in the military environment. For if a warrior is sure that even in the case of dangerous wounds there is an opportunity to “fix” him in the most effective way without injuries and deformities, then this will inspire better than any agitation and propaganda.
Slavic brains to the German technology
- Author:
- Mikhail Goldreer, Volgograd