Department of Traumatology
Director Professor László Hangody, M.D., Ph.D., D.Sc.
Background
The Department of Traumatology was established as an independent unit in 1984. Since June of 2010, the Department of Traumatology has been operating in two different locations: Péterfy Sándor Hospital’s Traumatology Center and Uzsoki Hospital’s Orthopaedic and Trauma Department.
Profile
Leading clinical profiles include neurotraumatology; the treatment of injuries to the spine, hip and knee; joint operative arthroscopy; and the management of fractures occurring in bone metastases.
The Department of Traumatology’s scientific achievements in cartilage repair, ligament surgery, sports traumatology and total hip and knee replacement are internationally recognised.
The Uzsoki Hospital Department of Orthopaedics, together with Semmelweis University Heart Centre and selected experts in football medicine, have been accredited as a FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence (award in 2010).
Education
The one-semester traumatology course is taught to fifth-year medical students in Hungarian, English and German.
Along with traumatology, the Departments’ staff organise a one semester-long first aid course for students at the Faculty of Pharmacy in Hungarian and English.
The Department is extensively involved in the postgraduate education of orthopaedics and traumatology.
Health Care
The Department has 360 beds and 12 modern operating theatres in Péterfy Sándor Hospital’s Traumatology Centre, as well as 60 beds and five high-level OP rooms in the Uzsoki Hospital’s Orthopaedic and Trauma Department. Both institutes also have their own critical care units adjoined to these departments.
More than 10,000 surgeries are performed per year at the two institutes. Blood banks and dialysis centres are also available in both hospitals. CT, MR angiographic facilities and nuclear medicine also support the diagnostic activities.
The Traumatology Centre provides nonstop full-spectrum trauma services, including high standard polytrauma care for the central region of Budapest, while the Orthopaedic and Trauma Department is rather involved in the extensive elective surgery programme.
Research
Basic science and clinical research of cartilage repair, ligament surgery and replacement surgery are the main fields of the Department’s scientific and research activities, as well as its most important international scientific involvements.
Several grants and research projects support the cartilage repair Ph.D. topic of the Department.
Research programmes also include prevention and treatment of infections and the development of new surgical methods. There is an emphasis on hip and knee surgery, intramedullary nailing techniques as well as polytrauma and treatment of serious limb injuries. These research activities have resulted in numerous publications in international journals, monographs and chapters in various textbooks, as well as regular invited lectures and podium presentations at national and international scientific meetings.