Department of Hip Surgery @ Ospedale Galeazzi - Sant'Ambrogio

Clinical activity focuses on the field of orthopaedics and traumatology with particular clinical and scientific interest in hip diseases.
The Department is a centre of excellence for hip arthroplasty specialised in tissue sparing and anatomical-biomechanical reconstruction techniques, the use of highly wear-resistant materials (ceramic, titanium).

The Unit has particular experience in complex cases (outcomes of dysplasia and congenital dislocation or other diseases of the young age, outcomes of traumas or previous surgeries and inflammatory or neurological diseases), in young high demanding patients and in old fragile patients, with a wide range of high quality implants used with the focus on minimally invasive prosthesis and on preventing any possible complication (pain, infection, dislocation, periprosthetic fractures, wear and osteolysis).

The Unit is also a reference centre in Italy for revision surgeries of failed prostheses, with patients coming from all over the country, due to wear of materials, metal on metal related issues, loosening, dislocation, heterotopic ossifications, infection or fracture, developing techniques that include biological reconstruction of bone loss with bone grafts and impaction grafting and restoration of stability, limb length and joint function using the most modern and updated techniques available in the orthopaedic field worldwide.

It also provides hip (non-prosthetic) conservative surgery for younger patients including treatments of femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) with mini-open and arthroscopic techniques, congenital dysplasia of the hip in adolescent and adult patients with osteotomies of the femur and of the pelvis, childhood pathologies such as Perthes disease and slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) and their outcomes in adulthood.

Total and unicompartmental knee arthroplasty is also part of the clinical activity that, in addition, includes knee revision and treatment of failure of previous knee surgeries.

Complete set of instrumentation and implants able to cover all the most difficult and complex cases, to evaluate intra-operatively the leg length and lower limb off-set. 

• Special implants for high risk patients: 
  • dual mobility cups in case of instability in patients at risk 
  • high porosity materials to improve bone fixation and osseointegration 
  • modular implants for severe cases of primary and revision THA 
  • ceramic and titanium in order to avoid any metal related issue 
• Ceramic on ceramic bearing and short cement-less stems in young active patients, implants for older patients including excellent knowledge and experience with cemented implants for cases of poor bone quality. 
• Availability of bone grafts from the bone bank in order to improve bone stock in case of bone loss. 
• Antibacterial coatings on implants to avoid reinfection in case of complications. 
• All the main types of cement-less and cemented prosthesis from the major Italian, European, and US companies are available for a joint reconstruction targeted to each patient, bone morphology and tissues quality. 
• All the patients are screened out by the means of calibrated X-rays and CT scan and the hip reconstruction is planned by the means of a dedicated hospital software for each patient. 
• Routine rapid functional recovery with early rehabilitation under the guidance of skilled physiotherapist and machines when necessary. 
• Epidural anaesthesia for long lasting and effective pain control, advanced program of multimodal pain control in the post-operative phase, drugs for blood loss preservation with very low risk of blood transfusion (no drains, no catheters) and rapid discharge for healthy patients able to immediately walk autonomously.