Osseointegrated femur prosthesis gives improved quality of life

A study is being presented today that for the first time ever shows the result of treatment with osseointegrated prostheses of titanium implants in patients with amputated femurs. The study shows that this treatment gives nine out of ten patients improved function and a better quality of life. These findings emerge from research by the Sahlgrenska Academy and Sahlgrenska University Hospital presented at the ongoing International Orthopaedic Week in Göteborg.

At a symposium today scientist Rickard Brånemark and others will highlight portions of the OPRA study, which has been ongoing since 1999. OPRA stands for Osseointegrated Prostheses for the Rehabilitation of Amputees.

In the study, researchers at the Centre for Orthopaedic Osseointegration, COO, and the Orthopaedic Clinic at Sahlgrenska University Hospital/Mölndal, have treated 51 patients with femur amputations and monitored their progress for 2 years. The study encompassed 51 people aged 20 to 65, 55 percent of them men and 45 percent women.

“For more than 9 out of 10 patients, this treatment leads to improved function and enhanced quality of life. It is important to point out that the treatment is intended for younger amputees and is not suitable for persons amputated as a consequence of vascular disease, says Rickard Brånemark, Doctor of Medicine at The Sahlgrenska Academy’s orthopaedic clinic at Sahlgrenska University Hospital.

More than 2000 bone amputations are performed every year in Sweden. Most of the amputees are older patients suffering from diabetes or impaired circulation, but amputations are also performed on younger people. The conventional prosthesis are fastened using a socket attached to the amputated stump. With the new technique, the prosthesis can be simply screwed to a titanium implant that is anchored in the skeleton and that protrudes from the stump.

“Attaching amputation prostheses directly to the skeleton using an implant has long been an unachievable vision and development has been under way for more than 20 years. Now however comes the international breakthrough for this revolutionary treatment,” says Rickard Brånemark, one of the authors of the study. He goes on to explain that further development is already under way with treatment of other amputations, such as of fingers and arms.

The studies are being conducted jointly by the Sahlgrenska University Hospital, the departments of orthopaedic and biomaterial science, and BIOMATCELL VINN Excellence Center of the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg.

FACTS ABOUT OSSEOINTEGRATION

Osseointegration is a method for anchoring prostheses directly in the skeleton and it was developed in the 1960s by Professor Per-Ingvar Brånemark. He discovered that titanium was not rejected by the human body but is instead integrated with the surrounding bone tissue. This discovery was initially used to alleviate tooth loss through the use of dental titanium implants – a treatment method that has since spread throughout the world and enhanced the quality of life for millions of people. The method has undergone further development over the years and today osseointegration is also used for leg, arm and face prostheses, among other things, and for embedding hearing aids.

For more information please contact:
Rickard Brånemark, Doctor of Medicine at the Sahlgrenska Academy and orthopaedic surgeon at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, mobile phone number:+46 (0)70-846 10 61

Time: OSOS Symposium, Thursday September 2 from 13.30-15.00 and 16.00-17.45, and Friday September 3 from 08.00-09.30 and 10.45-12.45
Place: Auditorium F1, second floor, The Swedish Exhibition and Congress Centre, Göteborg

For the full programme and more information about the congress, visit http://www.sicot.org/?id_page=257 and/or www.ortopediveckan.se

Source: Press Release, Sahlgrenska academy, http://www.sahlgrenska.gu.se/