Joint Surgery

The Department of Orthopedics of the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University was established in 1917 and has a 90-year history of development. In the late 1980s, the Department of Orthopedics took the lead in establishing a joint surgery subspecialty in Northeast China. After nearly 30 years of development, the Joint Surgery Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University is now the Liaoning Provincial Center for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Osteoarticular Diseases. It currently has a highly qualified medical team; 80% of the doctors hold master’s degrees and 50% hold doctoral degrees.

With regard to artificial joint replacement, it was one of the earliest institutions in China to perform artificial hip and knee joint replacements. It currently performs approximately 500 hip and knee replacement operations each year. In addition to routine hip and knee replacement operations, it performs revision surgery for hip and knee replacements, hip replacement for high-dislocation DDH, joint replacement for complex knee deformities, and tumor-type prosthetic joint replacement for periarticular tumors. It has extensive experience in artificial joint revision and in managing infections after artificial joint surgery.

Our Joint Surgery Department is the cradle of the development of arthroscopic techniques in Northeast China. It pioneered arthroscopic techniques in the region, trained a large number of arthroscopy personnel in China, and made a major contribution to the dissemination of this technology. It was among the first in China to apply holmium laser under arthroscopy, took the lead in using LARS to reconstruct the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments of the knee, and was among the earliest in China to conduct clinical research on LARS artificial ligaments. In recent years, it has also performed anatomic reconstruction for anterior cruciate ligament injuries, combined surgical treatment for recurrent patellar dislocation, and repair and suturing of knee meniscal injuries. Shoulder arthroscopy was introduced relatively early; 150–200 operations are now performed annually, including arthroscopic treatment of various glenoid labral injuries, including debridement and repair; Bankart lesion reconstruction; the Remplissage procedure for humeral head bone defects; arthroscopic debridement and suturing of SLAP lesions; arthroscopic repair of rotator cuff injuries; removal of loose bodies; acromioplasty; debridement of lesions in calcific tendinitis and rotator cuff repair; arthroscopic release for frozen shoulder; and synovectomy for pigmented villonodular synovitis and rheumatoid arthritis. Arthroscopic treatment of femoroacetabular impingement syndrome is currently being undertaken. Arthroscopic debridement for gouty arthritis, wrist arthroscopic treatment of triangular fibrocartilage injuries, arthroscopic transverse carpal ligament release for carpal tunnel syndrome, and small-joint arthroscopy techniques are all distinctive features of our hospital. It was among the first in China to perform small-joint arthroscopic surgery on the wrist, ankle, first metatarsophalangeal joint, and other small joints, and has carried out extensive work on autologous chondrocyte transplantation for articular cartilage injuries.

Research driving clinical practice, the pursuit of innovative development, and the resolution of difficult clinical problems are the unremitting goals of our Joint Surgery Department. Over the past five years, the department has undertaken more than 30 national-level research projects and more than 10 provincial- or municipal-level projects, with research funding of approximately RMB 15 million or more. As a leading hospital in southern Liaoning, it trains master’s and doctoral postgraduate students and physicians receiving further training each year; the number is not provided. This has greatly promoted the development of joint surgery.