Israeli Surgeons at Rambam hospital are transforming the limbs and lives if patients from the Former Soviet Union (FSU).
Patients who suffer from abnormally short limbs have had to endure painful, outmoded surgeries that damage surrounding tissue.
Recently patients from Georgia, Slovakia, Bulgaria and other countries in the FSU are making the journey to Rambam Hospital in Israel to benefit from revolutionary surgery
The method places a magnetic nail into the marrow to support the bone and extend it without damaging surrounding tissues.
The procedure was developed in Israel 2 years ago and had been performed 25 times.
Many of the patients are born with deformities, in some cases with a leg six inches shorter than the other, and are in search of surgeries, such as the magnetic pin, that can enhance their lives.
Professor Mark Eidelman, Director of the Pediatric Orthopedics Unit in Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital commented, “These are procedures that change the reality for these patients.”
“After living their entire lives with challenging disabilities and undergoing complex surgeries, a single operation became available, that could provide them with a solution – and a relatively short distance from their home countries,” he added.
“Rambam’s experience in using this innovative technology has made the hospital a hot spot for patients in Israel and from abroad. Within a few weeks, these two young people will begin to walk and make regular use of their limbs. With all of their lives ahead of them, it has tremendous significance,” Professor Edelman concluded
