Bahrain-based hip and knee joint minimally invasive surgery (MIS) pioneer Dr Heinz Roettinger has recently conducted extensive training in the MIS techniques at the Kuwait Military Hospital.

Prof Roettinger, who last year established the German Orthopaedic Hospital (GOH) in Bahrain, is highly regarded across the globe and is invited by well-known hospitals and universities across the globe.

“To get this level of cutting-edge MIS training for knee replacements in Kuwait and from such a world-renowned expert as Prof Roettinger, who quite literally wrote the article on this subject, has been highly beneficial for us,” said Dr Wael Al Raees, chief surgeon for the Kuwait Military Hospital.

MIS, known for its smaller scarring and faster recovery time, is more commonly used in minor operations. The high success rates achieved through the techniques developed by Dr Roettinger, especially for such major procedures as hip and knee joint replacement, have placed him in high demand throughout the world.

In July this year, Prof Roettinger has been invited to Lebanon as a guest speaker and regional lead-expert at a training conference sponsored by the well-known pharmaceutical company Boehringer-Ingelheim.

With more than 20 years’ experience in this field, Dr Roettinger has developed not only a new approach to Total Hip Replacement (THR), he has also devised a modified split surgical table that accommodates the correct leg position during the operation. During muscle-sparing THR, instead of cutting through muscle as with traditional approaches, the surgeon obtains access to the hip joint by passing between muscles in the thigh and hip. Less muscle damage means less pain, less blood loss and faster recovery.

Prof. Roettinger says: “Since I first began using this approach, I have found that my patients are able to return to activities of daily living without the traditional pain and rehabilitation time seen with other procedures."

Prof Roettinger intends to make the German Orthopaedic Hospital (GOH) a centre of excellence within the Middle East offering MIS procedures as standard.

“The highly efficient team of primarily German surgeons and the advanced infrastructure ensure that the highest standards of treatment are available in Bahrain,” said a statement.

To-date the doctor himself has conducted over 8,000 implants and since January 2011, the GOH has successfully completed 41 knee replacements, it said.

The hospital, equipped with the latest facilities – some not even readily available in Germany - has advanced infrastructure and extremely high standards of post-operative care, it said. – TradeArabia News Service