The Orthopaedic Clinic of Regenerative Medicine at St. Luke's Hospital

The Orthopaedic Clinic of Regenerative Medicine is a new outpatient department that operates in our Hospital. The Department consists of experienced, well-trained and qualified staff. The Scientific coordinator of the Department is the orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Tryfon Totlis, associate doctor of St. Luke's Hospital and a member of theTheMIS Orthopaedic Centre's scientific team.

What is Regenerative Medicine?

Regenerative Medicine is a rapidly evolving branch of Medicine with the development of new therapies, not only for Orthopaedics, but for all medical specialties. It is based on stem cells and growth factors of plasma platelets. With the treatments of Regenerative Medicine, a part of the body that has been damaged, either due to a degenerative disease or an injury, is cured through stimulation of the process of self-healing. That is, we use and strengthen the means available to our body for self-correction. 

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Services offered

• Taking medical history and clinical examination
• Completion of a questionnaire which shows a score for each patient (scale 0-100), thus offering an objective recording of the severity of the disease.
• Imaging (and blood) examinations in collaboration with other departments of the Hospital
• Evaluation of medical findings by the scientifically responsible doctor for a valid diagnosis
• Development of a personalized treatment plan
• Biological therapies
• Platelet-rich plasma (PRP)
• Autologous serum proteins 
• Cellular therapies - stem cells
• Patients attend individualised physiotherapy sessions adapted to their needs.

• Scheduled rechecks at regular intervals for the patient's medical evaluation by using the same questionnaires and scores used before.

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Interdisciplinary medical team

The medical services are provided by the orthopaedic surgeon who is the scientific coordinator, in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team of doctors, biologists, nurses, physiotherapists, trainers. It is our duty to our patients to offer them the best possible specialised medical team.
 

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Modern and certified equipment

The Orthopaedic Clinic of Regenerative Medicine is equipped with modern and state-of-the-art equipment for the application of the methods of regenerative medicine. The materials used for the manufacture of stem cells and PRP are certified and manufactured in Germany and Switzerland.

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Reliable diagnosis and treatment

To achieve proper treatment, an accurate diagnosis is necessary. The scientific staff of the department is dedicated to the examination of the patient in order to make an accurate diagnosis. Its data are analysed in order to achieve the best possible result individually for each patient.

Modern Innovative treatments

Platelet-rich plasma, known as PRP, is a method of regenerative medicine in which blood is taken from the patient's arm, as for a standard blood test. The vial of blood is then placed in a machine for centrifugation, which isolates the platelet-rich plasma with growth factors from the rest of the blood components. The doctor aspirates the plasma and injects it directly into the site of the condition. During the injection, the platelet growth factors are released and exert their therapeutic effect on the lesion. Often, we combine PRP infusion with the beneficial properties of hyaluronate to achieve the maximum therapeutic effect.

By the term stem cells, we mean cells of the patient himself, which have the ability either to be converted into cells of the tissue that is damaged, or to modify and enhance the action of the cells of the tissue that suffers from a disease. The final result in both cases is to strengthen the healing process. Material is usually taken from the adipose tissue of the patient's abdomen. This material is subjected to centrifugation which results to the creation of a solution with an increased concentration of stem cells; this solution, combined with PRP, is injected like a simple injection into the area of damage.

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Safety and efficacy

The main advantage is that these biological treatments, are not a medicine, so they are as safe as possible. Another important advantage is that they do not aim to simply cover the symptoms, but enhance the body's ability for healing. Thus, these innovative therapies are an alternative, without side effects, to accelerate the healing of the damaged tissue and in many cases to avoid an upcoming surgery.

The effectiveness of the application of stem cells and PRP is documented in the international scientific community. In general, the methods of Regenerative Medicine are increasingly being applied. Indicatively, in recent years, famous international athletes have recovered from serious injuries using PRP or stem cells.

Ideal Choice

Ideal patients for the use of biological therapies are those suffering from osteoarthritis, mainly in the knee, but also in other joints, patients with degenerative meniscus tears or chondropathy, as well as tendon diseases such as tendonitis, epicondylitis or partial tears of the supraspinatus. Finally, we should note that there is no age limit for the application of the method.

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The Clinic's scientific coordinator is the Orthopaedic Surgeon Tryfon Totlis, MD, PhD