Northwestern physicians bring life-changing hip and knee ...
Northwestern Physicians to bring life-changing hip and knee replacements to Central China
60 Joint Replacements in one Grueling and Inspiring week
In partnership for over 15 years, Dr. S. David Stulberg and Dr. Victoria Brander (Professor, Northwestern Orthopedic Institute, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine) have developed a comprehensive, state-of–the-art hip and knee replacement program. On August 13-20, 2005 they are bringing the latest minimally invasive surgical and rehabilitative techniques to Chengdu, China; leading a team of nearly 40 colleagues on a medical humanitarian mission to West China Hospital of Sichuan University. Dr. Stulberg and Dr. Brander are heading up Operation Walk, bringing life-changing hip and knee replacements to impoverished patients who otherwise would have no access to such care.
Arthritis is one of the leading causes of disability in the world. Advanced hip and knee disease causes intractable pain and disability, leading to poverty, depression and social isolation. In the United States, hip and knee replacement surgery has emerged as one of the most cost-effective, quality-of-life enhancing procedures in medicine. More than 600,000 of these surgeries are performed annually in the United States. However, joint replacements are rare in developing countries, where patients with treatable joint diseases (such as congenital hip disease, trauma or osteoarthritis) live lives of pain and suffering. In China, a country with a population of approximately 1.3 billion people, only 8000 joint replacements were performed last year. China now has reached a level of economic and social development in which care of its very large senior population represents a significant challenge. Maintaining the productivity, independence and vitality of this segment of society will emerge in China, as it has in the U.S., as a serious and important public health issue. “Joint replacement surgery using today’s technology results in a pain-free leg that allows patients to walk again. It can be a miraculous, life-changing procedure. There is no reason that patients in developing countries should suffer when we are able to treat them” relates Dr. Brander.
Founded in 1994 by Orthopedist Lawrence Dorr, MD, Operation Walk is a private, not-for-profit volunteer medical services organization which performs free hip and knee replacement surgeries for impoverished patients in developing countries and the United States. On week long medical humanitarian missions, the Operation Walk team educates the in-country orthopedic surgeons and health professionals on the most advanced treatments and surgeries for joint disease, leaving a lasting contribution to ensure quality treatment long after the Operation Walk team leaves. All supplies – from the joint implants, sterilization and radiology equipment, antibiotics, drugs and dressings – are donated by corporations, and Operation Walk professionals donate their services and skills.
A typical joint replacement in the United States costs about $40,000, Operation Walk, through the generosity of private and institutional gifts of equipment and services, can perform these joint replacements and help establish an in-country joint replacement team for about $200,000. Dr. Stulberg reflects, “This is a small price to bring new lives to so many patients with reversible disease. It is such a privilege for me to use my experience in this way”. With this trip, Operation Walk has the opportunity to provide care to desperately needed patients, teach a large number of health care providers about appropriate hip and knee care, and set up a model joint reconstruction surgery center at the West China Hospital of Sichuan University.
For more information on Operation Walk China, or to set up an interview with one of the physicians involved, please contact:
Brian Weiss Laci Leaders
Northwestern Arthritis Institute Northwestern Arthritis Institute
680 North Lake Shore Drive, Suite 1028 680 North Lake Shore Drive, Suite 1028
Chicago, IL 60611 Chicago, IL 60611
Phone: 312-475-5510 Phone: 312-475-5566
Fax: 312-475-5525 Fax: 312-475-5625
E-mail: Brian@ Email: lleaders@
Information on Operation Walk can be found at
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