Ukraine’s new prosthetics center offers free treatment to soldiers with complex injuries

The Center for Complex Endoprosthetic, Osseointegration, and Bionics provides free assistance to soldiers with complex joint and bone defects for whom conventional prostheses are not an option. 

On Friday, the center performed its 10th complex surgery, Rubryka reports.

What is the problem?

Due to the Russian-Ukrainian war, the number of Ukrainian soldiers with complex injuries on the battlefield, such as a gunshot wound in the joint area, is increasing. Many fighters lose their limbs in Russia's war and require quality treatment, surgery, and rehabilitation.

What is the solution?

Volunteer and philanthropist Viacheslav Zaporozhets met surgeons Oleksandr Haluzinskyi and Oleksandr Linenko in one of the rehabilitation centers this winter. Specialists offered him to implement a project that would be able to provide free assistance to the military with extremely complex injuries.

In April 2023, specialists created the Ukrainian Association of Osseointegration Prosthetics and then the first Center for Complex Endoprosthetics, Osseointegration, and Bionics in Ukraine. Doctors help patients with extremely complex cases of bone and joint defects.

How does it work?

"This project enables our soldiers to access cutting-edge medical treatment, particularly complex endoprosthetic procedures where destroyed joints and bones are replaced with personalized artificial implants," said the medical director of the Center, a top category orthopedic traumatologist, a researcher at the Institute of Experimental Pathology, Oncology, and radiobiology, Oleksandr Haluzynskyi.

The Center's specialists perform osseointegration procedures, attaching limb prosthetics directly to the bone. They employ 3D technologies and craft custom complex implants for patients.

As of August 11, 2023, the Center has completed nine intricate surgeries. Today marks the tenth procedure: a complex knee replacement surgery.

Patients undergo preparation for several weeks, and the surgery itself takes about eight hours. Each operation costs around 350,000 to 400,000 hryvnias. With the backing of the Life Saving Center charitable foundation and other partners, soldiers receive treatment without charge.

The Center is also set to conduct bionic osseointegration, enabling people with upper limb prosthetics to control their fingers. Currently, three Ukrainian defenders await the inaugural shoulder osseointegration surgeries in Ukraine. These include policeman and military officer Oleksandr Zozuliak, professional military officer Serhii Danilets, who will regain his role as an instructor with the help of a prosthesis, and Yaroslav Slobodian. Before serving on the front lines, Slobodian worked in construction; now, the prosthesis will enable him to return to his previous occupation. Viacheslav Zaporozhets also plans to establish a company of amputee builders with them.

Shoulder osseointegration marks the initial phase toward a bionic arm. The cost of osseointegration is roughly €40,000, while the components for a bionic arm amount to around €80,000. The Center has already secured one set of this advanced arm, but financial assistance is still required for the other two sets. This support will ensure that all three defenders experience an improved quality of life by the end of the year.

The specialists at the prosthetics center say they are committed to assisting all soldiers who require such complex interventions based on medical assessments. They also encourage society and businesses to back their initiative. They aim to perform at least ten of these surgeries each month.

Author, photo credit: Olha Stukalo

Rubryka also reported how Ukrainian fighters get used to prostheses thanks to Nordic walking and football.