Orthopedics in Germany – treatment in the Best Hospitals

Effective treatment of bone and joint diseases requires the use of the very latest technologies, which are available in hospitals in developed countries. Germany is one of the world leaders in the field of orthopedics. Patients from all over the world come to this country to repair torn ligaments and tendons, replace a damaged joint, remove a bone tumor, treat scoliosis or congenital skeletal disorders in children.

You can also use the services of the best German specialists. Booking Health will help you find the best clinic for the treatment of certain diseases. You can see the cost of treatment and book a medical care program at an affordable price on our website.

Content

1. Hip replacement
2. Knee replacement
3. Replacement of other joints
4. Spinal surgery
5. Sports medicine
6. Bone tumors
7. Aesthetic orthopedics
8. Shoulder surgery
9. Benefits of orthopedic surgery in Germany
10. Treatment in Germany with Booking Health

Hip replacement

Hip replacement is the most common operation in orthopedic surgery. It is most often performed for coxarthrosis. Over the years, the hip joint wears out, causing chronic pain and deformity. Conservative treatment options are limited. In the case of severe arthrosis, orthopedic surgeons usually resort to joint replacement surgery.

Approximately 80% of surgical procedures are performed for coxarthrosis. Another 20% of cases of hip replacement are performed for other diseases: hip dysplasia, hip fracture, inflammatory diseases, tumors, femoral head osteonecrosis.

In most cases, a total hip replacement is performed. This means that the doctor replaces not only the femoral, but also the acetabular (pelvic) component.

Hip replacement surgery is very effective. In 90% of cases, doctors manage to completely restore the limb support ability and relieve a person from chronic pain. In the best orthopedic hospitals in Germany, the rates are even higher: up to 98% of all operations give excellent and good results.

German doctors achieve excellent results even in the most severe cases. They successfully perform replacement surgery for severe post-traumatic arthrosis, acetabular deformity, femur shortening and deformity of the femoral canal. Good results are achieved in revision (repeated) replacement surgery, even in the cases of significant cicatricial changes. In case of severe deformation of the acetabulum, the individual components of the endoprosthesis are printed on a 3D printer.

Knee replacement

Knee replacements account for approximately 25% of all orthopedic surgeries. Tens of thousands of such interventions are performed in German hospitals every year. Joint replacement surgeries can be total or unicondylar.

Unicondylar knee replacement is less traumatic. The patient recovers faster after surgery. The prosthesis wears out more slowly and the movement in the joint is more natural, but such an operation is not always possible. It can be performed only if one half of the joint is destroyed, and the other one is not affected. This occurs mainly in two cases: osteonecrosis of one of the condyles or gonarthrosis, which is developed due to valgus or varus deformity of the lower limb (inward or outward knee deformity).

Most patients have to resort to total knee replacement. The doctors use three classes of total endoprostheses:

• Unconstrained. 
• Constrained. 
• Partially constrained.

Whenever possible, unconstrained or partially constrained knee endoprostheses are used. They not only wear out much more slowly, but they also ensure better knee function. After surgery and recovery, the patient can perform the same range of movements as before the development of the disease.

Fully constrained prostheses can be used for severe arthrosis, when the patient's own ligaments are affected, which causes bone tissue deficiency, or for revision replacement surgery. Hinged structures are mostly used. They contain stabilizing systems, so the patient's own joint is completely removed without preserving the ligaments. Constrained prostheses are less functional and wear out faster.

Replacement of other joints

In Germany, you can replace any joints – not only the hip and knee, but also elbow, shoulder, ankle, etc.

In third place in terms of the number of replacements performed is the shoulder joint. These operations are equally successful. Replacement surgery can be either total or partial. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Partial replacement accounts for 40% of operations. The doctors change only the humeral component of the joint – they replace the humeral head. This operation is less traumatic, and the artificial joint wears out more slowly. The intervention is preferable in young patients with high levels of physical activity.

In 60% of cases, the doctors perform a total shoulder replacement. This type of surgery allows the specialists to cure any, even the most severe joint pathologies. Their advantage is more complete, in comparison with partial replacement surgery, restoration of shoulder function, as well as the complete absence of pain.

Elbow replacement is performed in Germany as well. It is replaced in the case of post-traumatic changes or rheumatoid arthritis. Modern elbow endoprostheses can serve for 15-20 years, so they can be implanted even in young patients.

Only a few hospitals in the world can boast of a large number of ankle replacement surgeries performed, but in Germany, such operations are carried out regularly. The doctors perform about 1,500 surgical procedures annually – as many as in all other European countries. 

Spinal surgery

The doctors of German orthopedic hospitals successfully perform surgery for patients with spinal diseases and injuries. Whenever required, neurosurgeons are involved in the treatment process.

Even the most severe types of scoliosis can be treated in top orthopedic hospitals. Operations can be performed for both children and adults. The doctors implant rods, which fix the bones in the correct position. When performing spinal surgery for children, doctors use adjustable rods: their length can be increased as the child grows up. Some hospitals use the very latest magnetically controlled rods, the length of which can be changed without any additional surgical procedures.

The doctors of the best orthopedic centers perform safe operations for spinal injuries. The risk of spinal cord injury and neurological complications is minimal. After the completion of treatment, the patient can undergo orthopedic rehabilitation to fully recover from a spinal injury.

Sports medicine

German sports medicine is renowned all over the world. Famous athletes from all over the world come to German orthopedists to return to training and competition as soon as possible.

Orthopedic hospitals in Germany provide high-quality minimally invasive treatment for sports injuries. The most common traumas in patients are joint and tendon injuries.

Among knee injuries, tears of the menisci and the anterior cruciate ligament are the most common. They are often detected in a patient simultaneously. The doctors can suture torn menisci, remove the damaged part, or remove the meniscus totally, replacing it with a prosthesis. In case of an anterior cruciate ligament injury, its reconstruction is performed. The ligament is restored from the tendons of the muscles of the lower limb. After several months of rehabilitation, knee stability is fully restored.

The doctors in the Departments of Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery deal with the treatment of patients with bone fractures and joint dislocations. If possible, conservative methods are used, but whenever required, they also resort to surgical interventions. The level of medical care in Germany allows the surgeons to successfully cope even with chronic injuries and their consequences.

Bone tumors

Both benign and malignant tumors can develop in bones. Osteochondromas predominate among benign tumors. Less common are chondromas, solitary cysts, and other tumors. The most common malignant tumors are Ewing's sarcoma, chondrosarcoma, and osteosarcoma.

The main treatment method for any tumors is surgical resection. Operations in German orthopedic hospitals can be performed in patients of any age group. Malignant tumors in 50% of cases develop in patients under 35 years old, including in children. It is very important for them not only to achieve the treatment success, but also to maintain the quality of life after the victory over cancer.

The preference in orthopedic hospitals in Germany is always given to organ-preserving operations. Mutilating interventions are extremely rare. After removing a fragment of a bone or a joint, it is replaced with an endoprosthesis. Although these operations are technically complicated and require long-term orthopedic rehabilitation, they are the main ones in orthopedic oncology in developed countries.

Aesthetic orthopedics

With the development of medicine, when it becomes less painful and more safe, services in the field of aesthetic orthopedics are in demand. Patients undergo surgery to improve their appearance. The options of modern orthopedics make it possible to increase a person's height by lengthening the legs and hips.

Standard limb lengthening surgery involves dissecting the shin bones and placing an apparatus, which gradually stretches the bones. They fuse, but the doctors pull the ends apart again. Thus, osteosynthesis occurs: after a few months, a full-fledged bone tissue is formed. A person can "grow" by about 3 cm per month. At the same time, the femur can also be lengthened: in this case, the growth rate increases by 2 times, but orthopedic surgery becomes more traumatic.

German orthopedic hospitals use Fitbone nails. Unlike the standard Ilizarov apparatus, which has been used since the middle of the twentieth century, the new device is compact, not noticeable under clothes, and has a minimal effect on the quality of human life. No major surgery is required to remove Fitbone nails: they are removed through a 0.5 cm incision.

Shoulder surgery

German orthopedic hospitals often perform shoulder surgery. Most of them are minimally invasive – using arthroscopy. The main indications are:

• Inflammation and tear of the rotator cuff tendons.
• Shoulder slip (recurrent dislocations with impaired joint stability).
• Cartilage flap in the articular cavity.
• Arthrosis.
• Tendinitis of the long head of the biceps.

The doctors perform successful operations to repair torn tendons even in cases, which are considered "irreparable" in other countries. The preference is given to organ-preserving interventions for any disease. Only in extreme cases, doctors in orthopedic hospitals resort to replacement surgery.

Benefits of orthopedic surgery in Germany

The best hospitals in Germany achieve outstanding success in the field of orthopedics. The doctors achieve good treatment results even in cases where disability seems inevitable. In the vast majority of cases, a person's own bones and joints can be restored. If this is not possible, the doctors in German hospitals resort to replacement surgery.

The main advantages of treatment in Germany are:

• The very latest equipment in orthopedic hospitals.
• Most joint surgeries are performed using arthroscopy. It is used not only for the pathology of the knee, shoulder, but also for diseases of the hip, elbow, ankle joints.
• The availability of the very latest technologies in orthopedics: 3D printing of components of endoprosthesis, computer-assisted navigation, magnetically controlled rods for scoliosis, Fitbone rods for leg lengthening and much more.
• The use of modern endoprostheses to replace joints, which serve for decades.
• The efficiency of operations for replacement of large joints exceeds 90%, and it reaches 98% for hip replacement in the best hospitals in Germany.
• Top-class services in the field of sports medicine. Famous athletes from all over the world undergo treatment in German hospitals.
• Full-fledged orthopedic rehabilitation, which allows the patients to fully recover from injury or surgery in the shortest possible time.
• Affordable cost of treatment: prices for orthopedic services in Germany are lower than in many other developed countries.

Treatment in Germany with Booking Health

To undergo treatment of orthopedic diseases with the best orthopedists in Germany, please use the services of Booking Health. On our website, you can see the cost of treatment in different German hospitals, compare prices and book a medical program at an affordable price.

Please contact the Booking Health specialists to go to Germany for treatment. We will provide the following benefits for you:

• We will choose the best orthopedic hospital whose doctors specialize in the treatment of certain orthopedic diseases.
• We will help you overcome the language barrier, establish communication with the German hospital and your attending physician.
• We will reduce the waiting time for the medical care program and book a doctor's appointment on the most suitable dates.
• We will reduce the price. The cost of treatment in Germany will decrease due to the lack of additional coefficients for foreign patients.
• We will take care of all organizational issues: documents for entering the country, transfer from the airport, hotel, interpreter, etc.
• We will elaborate a medical care program and translate medical records into German. You do not have to repeat previously performed diagnostic procedures.
• We will ensure communication with the German clinic upon the completion of treatment.
• If necessary, we will organize additional diagnostic tests, treatment in Germany or rehabilitation.
• We will buy medicines in Germany and forward them to your native country.
• We will help you keep in touch with the hospital upon the completion of your medical care program.

Booking Health makes treatment in Germany easier, faster and cheaper. We will fully organize your trip, and you will only have to focus on restoring your health.

Authors: Dr. Nadezhda Ivanisova, Dr. Sergey Pashchenko