Reconstructive surgery
TREATMENT OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF ACCIDENTS – REPAIRING SCARS AND BONE DEFECTS
For many people, a serious accident is a stroke of fate that needs to be dealt with. In addition to the possible psychological trauma, there are often also physical impairments or consequential damage. The most common consequences of an accident are scars and bone defects. Scars on visible parts of the body can be stressful for the client. Scars can also severely restrict elasticity and range of motion, especially near joints. Bone defects also have other severely restrictive disadvantages for the client. For example, when fractures refuse to heal or lead to avascular necrosis.
In order to treat the consequences of an accident successfully and effectively in the long term, specialists from various fields are required. At the ETHIANUM, we offer you a highly specialised team of doctors who work together on an interdisciplinary basis to treat the consequences of your accident for your health. In addition to surgical specialists in the fields of reconstructive surgery and plastic and aesthetic surgery, you will also find doctors at the ETHIANUM clinic who have been specially trained to treat the consequences of accidents or burns. Our clinic in Heidelberg also has great expertise in dermatology and also offers further treatments such as physiotherapy in interdisciplinary cooperation in-house.
We have summarised our possible treatment methods for the consequences of accidents briefly and concisely.
BONE DEFECTS AS A RESULT OF ACCIDENTS – THE MOST COMMON DEFECTS AND THEIR TREATMENT
Bone defects as a result of an accident arise for various reasons and require individualised treatment. For example, bones may not want to heal after an accident or may be poorly supplied with blood. The most common bone defects after an accident are
- Non-healing fractures: A non-healing fracture, also known as pseudarthrosis, is often caused by poor blood supply to the bone. This can be caused by several operations or an infection.
- Bone defects caused by tumours: In these bone defects, the tumour is the cause. Unfortunately, radiotherapy can also damage the bones, resulting in bone defects.
- Avascular bone necrosis: In this case, parts of the bone die off due to a lack of blood supply.
Depending on the findings and diagnosis, your specialist will discuss individual treatment methods with you. In principle, bone defects after an accident can be successfully treated using several methods. In many cases, conventional techniques are used first. These include, for example, the administration of bone morphogenetic proteins, also known as BMPs. These stimulate bone growth. If conservative treatments for a bone defect do not bring the hoped-for success, microsurgical techniques are available.
A bone defect after an accident can often be successfully treated by transplanting healthy bone tissue, e.g. from the iliac crest. These three reconstructive microsurgical options are used most frequently:
- Transplantation of periosteum: As an example, bone-forming periosteum is harvested from the inside of the thigh. This transplantation often leads to successful treatment of bone defects.
- Transplantation of bone: Sometimes it is necessary to transplant not only periosteum, but entire pieces of bone. Transplantation is a major procedure that must be planned individually in order to treat bone defects effectively.
- Implantation of bone substitutes: The difference is that healthy bone material is not removed from another site and then transplanted. Instead, bone replacement material is used. Sometimes in combination with the patient’s own bone. The advantage for the client is that the bone defect can be repaired without having to undergo too many operations.
ACCIDENT SCARS – DERMATOLOGY AND SURGERY FOR VISIBLE RESULTS
Scars very often occur after accidents. These can be very distressing for clients for a variety of reasons. Be it because they are located in particularly conspicuous and visible areas. Or because they lead to feelings of tension and restricted freedom of movement, particularly in the area of the joints. Scars resulting from accidents can be treated differently depending on their depth, structure and size. We have dedicated an entire page to the treatment of scars. Here you can find detailed information on the various dermatological and surgical options for treating scars resulting from accidents.
