The region's first Hand Surgery Center has been operating at Regional Hospital No. 1 for eight months. During this time, specialists using advanced technology and techniques have successfully performed surgeries on patients with various hand and forearm conditions.
New feature
In a short time, the Hand Surgery Center has performed more than 400 surgeries and provided more than 600 medical services in its field. Here they diagnose, treat and restore function of the hands and upper limbs. The new department is equipped with modern high-tech equipment such as surgical microscopes, microsurgical equipment, computers and magnetic resonance imaging machines, etc. The center has 50 beds and provides planned and emergency care.
Deputy head of the department of surgical care Alisa Shishkina noted: “Many patients need such medical care. – Previously it was necessary to go to other regions or to federal clinics to receive such medical services, but now this is no longer necessary. Our specialists were trained at institutes in St. Petersburg and Moscow. We bought new equipment. And there are already about 600 patients not only from our region but also from other countries.” Other Russian regions have received highly qualified care.”
Therefore, citizens from Astrakhan, Rostov, Kalmykia and even from Uzbekistan turned to the hand surgery center. The Volgograd Center not only treats complex fractures of the hand and forearm, but also removes hand tumors, treats birth defects, genetic diseases and much more.
As the head of the Center for Hand Surgery, orthopedic traumatologist and hand surgeon Sergei Biryukov emphasizes, every year there are more and more different hand diseases.
“Long hours of work at the computer or other long-hour routine tasks that we perform every day lead to various diseases,” said Sergei Biryukov. – People who work at computers often come to our center more because they have a greater load on the musculoskeletal system, including the ligament system. This can lead to joint disease and requires treatment in the future.”
Patient history
Igor Zakharevich, 68 years old, a resident of Volgograd, a retired lieutenant colonel, spent more than 40 years of his life behind the wheel of a car. The man did not feel sick for a long time, and then it turned out that he had a disease called Dupuytren's contracture, in which the fingers do not straighten.
Dr. Sergei Biryukov explains: “This is a hereditary and hereditary disease. – First, nodules form on the skin, then scars form, and finally the fingers cannot be straightened. This disease cannot be cured, but with the help of surgery we can restore the function of the hands.”
As the head of the Center said, at first the man thought he just had a scratch on his hand while driving a car.
“I didn't notice anything right away,” the patient recalls, “I thought: the calluses only appeared because I spend a lot of time driving.” – My fingers still work, only one finger is half bent, later I started to feel uncomfortable. My daughter insisted that I see a doctor, and I was eventually transferred from the clinic to an area hospital. I got in line and got the surgery. Now the fingers are completely straight and bent, there is no longer any discomfort.”
The man underwent surgery using minimally invasive techniques, Sergei Biryukov explains.
The hand surgeon said: “We use a needle to cut the joints formed with a small puncture. – This is jewelry-making work that requires perfect knowledge of anatomy so as not to damage important structures. The effect is immediately visible: the finger straightens right on the operating table. This is success!
It is important to understand that surgery eliminates the effect, not the cause – the genetic disease itself.
Biryukov notes: “The important issue is the timing of relapse. – Relapse is unpredictable and directly related to how the patient uses his hands. If this is work associated with constant physical activity, the risk of relapse and its speed will be much higher. The second serious risk factor is smoking, which negatively affects the collagen that creates this pathology. Smoking accelerates its development.”
However, Igor Zakharevich now feels much better and hopes the disease will not get worse in the near future.
It should be noted that creating a unified modern system for providing medical care to residents of the Volgograd region and improving its quality is one of the priority tasks set by Governor Andrei Bocharov. Regional Hospital No. 1 is a multidisciplinary tertiary care medical facility providing planned, urgent and emergency care around the clock.
In recent years, the hospital has had great innovation in technical facilities, most departments have been renovated, modernized and purchased modern equipment. Work continues within the framework of the programs of the national project “Long and Active Life”.