Orthopaedics

The Department of Orthopedics of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, was established in 1994. It is a comprehensive department integrating clinical care, medical research, teaching for the three clinical programs, and a standardized training base. It is a National Key Clinical Specialty, a doctoral degree-granting site of Zhejiang University, and a specialized residency training base designated by the National Health Commission. It is also the institution of the former and incoming chairpersons of the Orthopedics Branch of the Zhejiang Medical Association. The department has established the Key Laboratory of Translational Research on Musculoskeletal Degeneration, Regeneration and Repair of Zhejiang Province, and possesses strong technical expertise. It has four wards: Qingchun Campus, Qiantang Campus, Grand Canal Campus, and Shaoxing Campus. It performs nearly 20,000 operations annually and possesses first-class, fully equipped advanced medical equipment in China. Relying on the Zhejiang University platform and through direct cooperative development with Loma Linda University Medical Center and Mayo Clinic in the United States, it has become a large, well-known medical institution in China. There are currently 85 clinical physicians, including 15 professors/chief physicians and 21 associate professors/associate chief physicians. Its various categories of talent include 1 chief scientist of the National Key R&D Program during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, 1 National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars awardee, 1 Changjiang Scholar, 4 National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars awardees, 14 doctoral supervisors, 17 master's supervisors, 1 recipient of the State Council Special Allowance, 2 Qiushi Distinguished Physicians of Zhejiang University, 2 provincial health leading talents, 4 provincial health innovative talents, and 6 provincial emerging medical talents.

Technical Advantages

The department is renowned both domestically and internationally for minimally invasive spine surgery, sports medicine, and repair and reconstruction. It is at the forefront domestically and internationally in the diagnosis and treatment of low back pain, and is the Greater China training center for oblique lateral interbody fusion (OLIF). The department has developed clinical application guidelines for OLIF, and its original OLIF-AIP exposure technique has benefited hundreds of thousands of patients in the Asia-Pacific region. Its minimally invasive spinal techniques are comprehensive, including OLIF minimally invasive fusion, MIS-TLIF, transforaminal endoscopic surgery, UBE, and small-incision anterior cervical fusion. More than 5,000 minimally invasive spinal operations are performed annually. It is a demonstration base for standardized diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis.

The department has strong diagnostic and treatment capabilities in sports medicine and artificial joint replacement. It was among the first in the province to perform arthroscopic treatment of shoulder and knee diseases, including cruciate ligament reconstruction, meniscal injury plasty, arthroscopic surgery for recurrent shoulder dislocation, and latissimus dorsi tendon transfer for rotator cuff injury repair. These procedures offer the advantages of minimal trauma, rapid recovery, good outcomes, and high satisfaction. It has performed small-incision anterior-approach total hip arthroplasty and knee arthroplasty almost in synchrony with international practice, and was among the earliest in the province to perform unicompartmental knee arthroplasty; its surgical techniques are leading.

Repair and reconstruction, together with hand and foot surgery, is a subspecialty of the Department of Orthopedics of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital that has developed rapidly in recent years. Its diagnostic and treatment level for diabetic foot gangrene is at the forefront domestically and internationally. It is the largest multidisciplinary joint diagnosis and treatment center for diabetic foot in Zhejiang Province, a construction institution of a China Diabetic Foot Alliance center, and the initiator and chair institution of the Zhejiang Diabetic Foot Alliance. In addition, it has achieved a high level of expertise in the comprehensive diagnosis and treatment of osteomyelitis and chronic, difficult-to-heal wounds; reconstruction of complex soft-tissue defects; minimally invasive arthroscopic treatment of various hand and foot fractures and trauma; replantation of severed limbs (digits); correction of congenital and acquired limb deformities; and supermicrosurgical repair of limb lymphedema after radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Academic Standing

A specialized residency training base of the National Health Commission; the chair institution of the Orthopedic Physicians Branch of the Zhejiang Physicians Association; the institution of the former and incoming chairpersons of the Orthopedics Branch of the Zhejiang Medical Association; the institution of a deputy chairperson of the Sports Medicine Branch of the Zhejiang Medical Association; and the initiator and chair institution of the Zhejiang Diabetic Foot Alliance.

Research Achievements

The department has received 66 grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (including 9 dual-appointed grants) (the highest per-capita number among clinical disciplines in the province), including 2 key major projects, 2 Joint Funds for Regional Innovation and Development, 1 cultivation project under the Major Research Plan, 1 National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars grant (including a dual-appointed grant), and 4 National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars grants (including 1 dual-appointed grant). It has led 1 project under the National Key R&D Program, participated in 1 project, and led 1 Young Scientist Project (dual-appointed). It has received 4 General Program grants from the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation; 1 project under Zhejiang Province's "Spearhead" and "Leading Wild Goose" R&D Initiative; 2 Zhejiang Provincial Key R&D Program projects; and 36 Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation projects, including 3 provincial key projects and 2 Distinguished Young Scholars projects. It has undertaken 21 other research projects, with annual research funding of nearly RMB 20 million. It has been granted 34 invention patents, including 3 granted international patents, 27 granted utility model patents, and 4 design patents.