Arthroscopic or open surgery and transplantation of cartilage to treat knee osteoarthritis in Schlosspark Hospital Berlin

About the department

The Department of Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery at the Schlosspark Hospital Berlin offers all modern therapeutic options for the treatment of musculoskeletal diseases and injuries. The priority clinical interests of the medical facility are knee and hip replacement surgery, including revision surgery to replace previously implanted artificial joints, arthroscopic interventions for pathological changes in the knee, hip, shoulder, and ankle joints, treatment of fractures, traumatic soft tissue injuries, and tendon, muscle, and ligament tears. In cooperation with neurosurgeons, the department's orthopedic team also treats patients with spinal diseases such as herniated discs, spinal stenosis, and spondylolisthesis. The department's operating rooms have state-of-the-art equipment and are adapted for minimally invasive interventions. When performing joint replacement surgery and spinal interventions, the department's surgeons use modern navigation systems, which ensure the highest safety of surgical manipulations. The health of patients is in the safe hands of a highly qualified team of doctors, whose main task is to provide effective treatment in a comfortable environment for the patient.

The department is headed by Prof. Dr. med. Ulrich Böhling. The specialist has more than 30 years of successful experience in the treatment of orthopedic pathologies and injuries of varying severity. He has many additional qualifications to guarantee patients an optimal treatment outcome. Dr. med. Böhling is actively engaged in the work of the German Society for Orthopedics and Orthopedic Surgery, the German-speaking Working Group for Arthroscopy, the Professional Association of Orthopedic Traumatologists, and other societies.

The key focus of the department's team of doctors is hip and knee replacement surgery. Such operations are performed at a specialized Center for Joint Replacement Surgery, which is part of the department. Hip and knee arthroplasty procedures have been performed here for decades, so patients can count on highly qualified medical care. Almost all joint replacement surgical interventions are performed using minimally invasive techniques, which contributes to the patient's rapid recovery. It is also important that the department's specialists prefer an individual approach to therapy when the patient receives a unique treatment regimen that takes into account their clinical data and goals. The department's orthopedists work only with high-quality endoprostheses produced by reputable international companies. Whenever required, the patient may be offered the implantation of an individually manufactured endoprosthesis.

When performing hip replacement surgery, the department's specialists often use the innovative surgical technique AMIS (Anterior Minimally Invasive Surgery). When using this technique, surgeons avoid dissecting tendons and muscles because the anatomical gap between the muscles is used to approach the hip joint. The AMIS technique ensures the formation of minor scars, which simplifies and accelerates the rehabilitation process. In addition, during the implantation of a hip joint prosthesis, the department's surgeons use advanced computer navigation systems that ensure the highest accuracy in positioning the prosthesis.

The department's doctors specialize in arthroscopic interventions. Arthroscopy is a low-traumatic surgery during which an arthroscope with a camera attached to it is inserted into the joint through a microincision, which allows imaging the joint cavity on the monitor screen in multiple zooms. Thus, the arthroscopic technique makes it possible to perform rather complex therapeutic manipulations without opening the joint. Arthroscopic interventions are most often performed for knee pathologies such as meniscal injuries and tears, cruciate ligament ruptures, cartilage tissue lesions, etc. Arthroscopy is also successfully used for pathological changes in the shoulder and ankle joints and rheumatic joint lesions. Arthroscopy is performed under local anesthesia, but general anesthesia may also be used in some cases. As a rule, the duration of the arthroscopic intervention is about an hour. After the intervention, the patient is under medical supervision for some time. The patient usually leaves the hospital the same day.

The department's orthopedists are competent in providing medical care to patients with spinal diseases. The department's specialists admit patients with spinal disc herniations, spinal stenosis, and spondylolisthesis. Patients with spinal diseases are treated in close cooperation with neurosurgeons. The first-line treatment for spinal diseases is usually conservative therapy, which is based on the intake of drugs, physiotherapy, massage, manual therapy, acupuncture, and other procedures. If the above-mentioned methods do not give the desired therapeutic effect, the department's doctors resort to surgical treatment. Patients with spinal disc herniation undergo prosthetic repair surgery, which involves the replacement of a destroyed intervertebral disc with an artificial prosthesis. The main option for surgical treatment of spinal stenosis is a decompression intervention, which aims to eliminate compression of the nerve structures located inside the spinal canal. Spinal fusion is performed in the department to stabilize the spine in patients with spondylolisthesis (vertebral displacement).

The department's therapeutic options are complemented by the treatment of musculoskeletal injuries of varying severity. The department's trauma surgeons successfully perform osteosynthesis procedures for the treatment of complex bone fractures and reconstructive plastic surgery for traumatic injuries of soft tissues, muscles, and ligaments. The department has vast experience in eliminating the consequences of injuries and other musculoskeletal lesions, including infectious ones. The department's trauma surgeons, along with colleagues from other departments, annually treat more than 18,000 patients with injuries in the Central Emergency Unit of the Schlosspark Hospital Berlin.

The department's clinical focuses include:

• Orthopedics
  • Joint replacement surgery
    • Hip replacement surgery, including the innovative minimally invasive AMIS technique
      • Implantation of short-stem prostheses
      • Implantation of movable prostheses
    • Knee replacement surgery (minimally invasive techniques)
  • Arthroscopic surgery
    • Knee arthroscopy
      • Surgery for traumatic meniscal injuries
      • Surgery for cruciate ligament tears
      • Surgery for patellar instability
      • Cartilage transplant procedures
    • Hip arthroscopy
      • Surgery for impingement syndrome
      • Surgery for acetabular labrum lesions
      • Cartilage transplant procedures
    • Shoulder arthroscopy
      • Surgery for impingement syndrome
      • Surgery for shoulder instability
      • Surgery for rotator cuff tears
      • Surgery for biceps tendon ruptures
  • Spinal surgery
    • Intervertebral disc replacement surgery
    • Decompression surgery for spinal stenosis
    • Spinal fusion for vertebral displacement
    • Surgery for spinal tumors
    • Kyphoplasty for osteoporotic vertebral fractures
    • Conservative and surgical treatment for spinal fractures
    • Conservative and surgical treatment for inflammatory processes in the spine
    • Interventional pain management for chronic back pain
• Trauma surgery
  • Conservative and surgical treatment for bone fractures
  • Reconstructive plastic surgery for soft tissue, muscle, and ligament traumatic injuries
• Other medical services