Department of Orthopedics and Hand Surgery - ATOS Orthopedic Clinic Braunfels

About the Department of Orthopedics and Hand Surgery at ATOS Orthopedic Clinic Braunfels

The Department of Orthopedics and Hand Surgery at the ATOS Orthopedic Clinic Braunfels offers the full range of medical services in its fields of competence. The department's key area of ​​specialization is hip and knee replacement surgery. The medical facility also successfully performs arthroscopic procedures on the hip, knee, and shoulder joints. In addition, the department provides medical care for patients with hand diseases such as wrist arthrosis, rhizarthrosis, carpal tunnel syndrome, Dupuytren's contracture, and trigger fingers (tendovaginitis stenosans). The team of orthopedists in the department prefers minimally traumatic surgery, so the specialists mostly work with minimally invasive and microsurgical techniques. The effectiveness of such operations is in no way inferior to classical open surgery, but at the same time, they provide less blood loss, less pronounced postoperative pain, rapid restoration of mobility, and excellent cosmetic results. The department's specialists are sensitive to the individual needs and wishes of the patients and always take them into account when planning the treatment. Operations are performed under conditions of absolute sterility with the use of state-of-the-art equipment.

The Head Physician of the department is Dr. med. Michael Kremer. He has many years of experience in the treatment of orthopedic diseases. He specializes in hip, knee, and shoulder replacement surgery, including revision arthroplasty. Over the years of his clinical practice, Dr. Kremer has performed more than 1,000 arthroplasty procedures. He was awarded a certificate from the German Knee Society (DKG) for achievements in his work. In addition, according to the Focus magazine, he is one of Germany's top experts in the field of arthroplasty.

The primary focus of the department's clinical practice is the conservative and surgical treatment of hip diseases. The doctors most often treat patients with hip arthrosis (coxarthrosis), periprosthetic fractures, femoral head avascular necrosis, and hip dysplasia. Early stages of hip pathology can mostly be treated with conservative therapies, such as physiotherapy, therapeutic exercises, medications, and intra-articular injections. If patients do not seek medical attention in time, the only effective treatment is surgery. It should be noted that the department's orthopedists have been performing hip replacement surgeries for many years and have exceptional experience in this area. The specialists perform hip replacement surgeries using minimally invasive techniques without cutting tendons or injuring the muscular system. Minimally traumatic operations to replace the hip joint with a prosthesis allow for minimal blood loss and the fastest possible return to mobility. In addition, minimally invasive surgery leaves barely noticeable scars. Doctors in the department work with high-quality prostheses that last 20 years or more. Patients are back on their feet on the day of surgery. Experienced physiotherapists work with them. It takes 6-12 weeks to fully regain mobility and return to a full life after hip replacement surgery. The length of the recovery period depends on the patient's age, physical fitness, and other factors.

The department also successfully treats knee diseases. The specialists focus on patients with knee arthrosis (gonarthrosis), cartilage lesions, patellar instability, cruciate ligament tears, meniscus tears, and other pathologies. In the advanced stages of gonarthrosis, the department's doctors perform arthroplasty, which is an operation to replace the knee joint with an artificial one in order to restore mobility and eliminate pain. Depending on the degree of degenerative damage to the knee joint, the patient is recommended to undergo partial or total joint replacement surgery. Knee arthroplasty is performed in the department using minimally invasive techniques, often under regional anesthesia. The surgical procedure takes approximately 90 minutes. The department is equipped with the innovative ROSA® robotic system, which allows for implanting a knee joint prosthesis with pinpoint precision. Following knee replacement surgery, patients are recommended to undergo professional rehabilitation in a specialized medical center. Typically, postoperative recovery takes 4-6 weeks.

Furthermore, the department specializes in the treatment of shoulder diseases such as arthrosis, impingement syndrome, rotator cuff tears, shoulder dislocation, and frozen shoulder syndrome. In many cases, the above pathologies respond well to conservative treatment with the help of pills, injections, physiotherapy, electrotherapy, acupuncture, cryotherapy, and thermotherapy. If conservative measures fail, the patient is prescribed surgery. Surgical procedures for shoulder diseases are performed in the department using sparing arthroscopic techniques, including shoulder arthroplasty. The specialists in the department regularly perform surgery to replace the shoulder joint with a prosthesis, so they have impressive experience in this area, which is a very important point because such operations require special expertise. Due to the fact that shoulder replacement surgery is performed much less frequently than hip and knee arthroplasty, patients should seek medical help from healthcare facilities where such operations are performed on a regular basis.

The department also provides medical services for patients with hand diseases. Doctors of this specialty are competent in the treatment of wrist arthrosis, rhizarthrosis, carpal tunnel syndrome, Dupuytren's contracture, and trigger fingers (tendovaginitis stenosans). The department's doctors achieve good results mostly with the help of conservative treatments such as physiotherapy, manual therapy, ultrasound therapy, acupuncture, electrotherapy, cryotherapy, etc. If surgery is required, effective arthroscopic procedures are offered to patients.

The department's clinical focuses include the following:

• Diagnostics and treatment of hip diseases
  • Conservative and surgical treatment of hip arthrosis
  • Conservative and surgical treatment of periprosthetic fractures
  • Conservative and surgical treatment of femoral head avascular necrosis
  • Conservative and surgical treatment of hip dysplasia
• Diagnostics and treatment of knee diseases
  • Conservative and surgical treatment of knee arthrosis
  • Conservative and surgical treatment of cartilage lesions
  • Conservative and surgical treatment of patellar instability
  • Conservative and surgical treatment of cruciate ligament tears
  • Conservative and surgical treatment of meniscal tears
• Diagnostics and treatment of shoulder diseases
  • Conservative and surgical treatment of shoulder arthrosis
  • Conservative and surgical treatment of shoulder impingement syndrome
  • Conservative and surgical treatment of rotator cuff tears
  • Conservative and surgical treatment of shoulder dislocation
  • Conservative and surgical treatment of frozen shoulder
• Diagnostics and treatment of hand diseases
  • Conservative and surgical treatment of wrist arthrosis
  • Conservative and surgical treatment of rhizarthrosis
  • Conservative and surgical treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome
  • Conservative and surgical treatment of Dupuytren's contracture
  • Conservative and surgical treatment of trigger fingers (tendovaginitis stenosans)
• Diagnostics and treatment of other orthopedic diseases