Department of Trauma Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery and Foot Surgery - Hospital Kassel

About the Department of Trauma Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery and Foot Surgery at Hospital Kassel

The Department of Trauma Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery and Foot Surgery at the Hospital Kassel offers the full range of modern diagnostic tests for the detection of musculoskeletal diseases, as well as many effective treatment methods for their elimination. Moreover, the department enjoys the status of the Center of Excellence for Trauma Surgery, so trauma surgeons working in the medical facility have a rich and unique experience in the treatment of patients after both simple common and especially complex injuries, including traumatic brain injuries, spinal injuries, polytrauma, injuries of the internal organs, etc. In addition to the treatment of injuries, a special focus is on arthroscopic interventions, joint replacement surgery, interventions to treat foot diseases and deformities, as well as surgery to resect soft tissue tumors. The surgical treatment is provided in the high-tech operating rooms with advanced surgical instruments and computerized systems for the most effective interventions with minimal damage to the healthy adjacent tissues. The department is headed by Prof. Dr. med. Clemens Dumont.

Thanks to the availability of modern technical equipment in the department, many joint surgeries can be performed using arthroscopic techniques. As a rule, arthroscopic interventions are outpatient and a patient can return home the same day after surgery. The main surgical instrument during such interventions is an arthroscope – a tool with a hollow tube several millimeters in diameter; it is equipped with a light source, an optical system or a tiny video camera, which transmits a multiply zoomed image of the joint cavity on a large screen. When performing the arthroscopic procedure, the surgeon makes two skin incisions: one for inserting the arthroscope, and the other one for inserting miniature endoscopic surgical instruments into the joint cavity. Prior to the operation, the surgeon fills the joint cavity with saline, which remains there throughout the surgical procedure. Due to this solution, the joint cavity expands. The main advantage of such interventions is the speedy postoperative recovery of the patient, which takes only 1-3 weeks, which is much less than after classical open surgery. At the same time, arthroscopic interventions are not inferior to open surgeries in terms of their efficiency and give excellent results even in the case of severe joint injuries. The department's orthopedic surgeons specialize in arthroscopic knee, hip, shoulder, elbow and ankle surgery.

An important place in the department's clinical practice is given to the joint replacement surgery – knee, hip, shoulder, elbow and ankle. The competence of the department's doctors covers both partial and total replacement surgeries, as well as revision replacement surgery. Whenever possible, joint replacement is performed using minimally invasive surgical techniques. To ensure the most accurate positioning of the prosthesis during operations, modern navigation systems are used. The joints are replaced using only high-quality prostheses from leading world manufacturers. They are characterized by high reliability and long service life.

The department's specialists admit patients with spinal diseases and injuries. As the Center of Excellence for Trauma Surgery, the department provides the effective treatment of spinal injuries of any severity – from osteoporotic fractures of the vertebral bodies to acute transverse injuries of the entire spine. The department's medical team also specializes in the treatment of spinal tumors (in cooperation with the Department of Oncology). Many operations are performed using minimally invasive techniques, which greatly simplifies the patient's recovery after surgical treatment. The advanced computer navigation systems allow the doctors to perform surgical procedures with millimeter accuracy, avoiding damage to the vital anatomical structures of the spine.

The department's range of medical services includes:

• Diagnostics and treatment of injuries, including limb amputation (certified Center of Excellence for Trauma Surgery)
  • Abdominal injuries
  • Pelvic ring injuries
  • Thoracic injuries
  • Clavicle injuries
  • Ankle and calcaneal injuries
  • Chemical, thermal or burn injuries
  • Elbow injuries
  • Hip injuries
  • Knee injury
  • Shoulder injury
  • Tarsal injuries
  • Forearm injuries
  • Wrist injuries
  • Hand and finger injuries
  • Heart injuries
  • Injuries of several tubular bones
  • Muscle injuries (compression syndromes)
  • Nerve injuries
  • Vascular and arterial injuries
  • Paired and multiple limb injuries
  • Polytrauma, sepsis, organ failure
  • Traumatic brain injuries
  • Soft tissue injuries
  • Spinal injuries
  • Sports injuries
    • Shoulder instability
    • Rotator cuff tear
    • Dislocated shoulder
    • Tennis elbow
    • Golfer's elbow
    • Meniscus injuries
    • Cruciate ligament rupture and lateral ligament injuries
    • Patellar dislocation
    • Patellar fracture
    • Hamstring and patellar tendon rupture
    • Ligament injuries
    • Achilles tendon rupture
• Diagnostics and treatment of orthopedic diseases
  • Arthroscopic surgery
    • Knee arthroscopic surgery
      • Cartilage replacement surgery (cartilage cell transplantation, microfracturing, bone and cartilage graft transplantation)
      • Anterior/posterior cruciate ligament replacement
      • Meniscus repair (suturing, partial resection)
      • Patellar dislocation repair
    • Shoulder arthroscopic surgery
      • Rotator cuff repair
      • Shoulder dislocation stabilisation surgery
      • Impingement syndrome surgery
      • Shoulder dislocation surgery
      • Frozen shoulder surgery
      • Shoulder stiffness surgery
    • Ankle arthroscopic surgery
      • Cartilage replacement surgery, microfracturing, bone and cartilage graft transplantation
      • Impingement syndrome surgery
      • Osteochondritis dissecans surgery
    • Hip arthroscopic surgery
      • Operations for impingement syndrome
      • Surgery for damage to cartilage tissue (microfracturing)
      • Osteochondritis dissecans surgery
    • Arthroscopic interventions on the elbow joint
  • Knee, hip, shoulder, elbow and ankle replacement surgery
    • Partial replacement surgery
    • Total replacement surgery
    • Revision replacement surgery
  • Foot surgery
    • Foot fractures 
    • Hallux valgus
    • Hallux rigidus
    • Hammer and claw toes
    • Clubfoot
    • Metatarsalgia
    • Flat feet
    • Foot arthrosis
    • Heel spur
    • Morton's neuroma
    • Tarsal tunnel syndrome
    • Charcot foot
    • Chronic ankle instability
    • Osteochondritis dissecans
  • Spinal surgery
    • Spinal injuries and fractures
    • Degenerative diseases
    • Inflammatory and infectious spinal diseases
    • Spinal tumors and metastases
    • Pathological spinal changes caused by osteoporosis
  • Soft tissue tumor surgery
• Other medical services