Ukraine is called the capital of amputation

Channel 7 spoke with Filip Matkovskyi, Deputy Director of Medical Affairs at Tellus Prosthetic and Orthotic Care Center, about prosthetic limbs and solutions to their maintenance issues.

That less than 5,000 Ukrainians have lost limbs since the war began last year. The exact figures are difficult to verify and could be many times higher.

The war continues and, unfortunately, we realize that more and more people will need prosthetics. The volume of work, applications of Ukrainians for help in prosthetics has changed a lot and our task is to provide everyone with quality products.

Last year our center made about 600 prosthetic limbs, among them only 25 prostheses were made for the military. This year for six months we have already made 500 prostheses, among which 120 prostheses for our soldiers. So the number has increased 5 times and unfortunately it is growing.

99% of patients exactly with mine blast trauma are guys who have been injured. Citizens mostly receive amputations due to different diseases: vascular pathology or diabetes mellitus.

For military personnel with disabilities, we provide not only prosthetics, but also orthotics, joints, orthopedic shoes, insoles, the things our center specializes in so well. Prosthetics remains a priority as our main focus.

We deal with all levels of amputation from partial, paired, upper limb prosthetics, forearm, upper arm, shoulder, etc. There are different classes of prostheses in terms of functionality, depending on the mobility of the patient. And today our center is able to produce any prostheses of any complexity.

Our center differs from state institutions by the fact that we have more connections and thus opportunities to supply different sets from different parts of the world. For example, our center puts Allux electronic nodes on the hip prosthesis, not many similar companies do this. This is one of the top Japanese knee assemblies worldwide, which we can easily install on a hip prosthesis, for example.

Our specialists produce traction, cosmetic, even prostheses with an external energy source – bionic prostheses.

The prosthetic orthopedic product that we manufacture is fully serviced by us, we carry out all repairs during the warranty period and after warranty period. The prosthesis is fully serviced by us during the whole period of use. When it is time to replace the prosthesis, we replace it with a new one.

The issue of servicing prosthetics became a hot topic back in 2014, when our soldiers were returning from prosthetics abroad and there was no one to service their prosthetics. Therefore, we have considered this issue and service any prosthetics of the military, even if they were prosthetized abroad.

It should be taken into account that there is a peculiarity in prosthetics, as the residual limb changes in a person over a period of time or even life. At the first prosthesis it has the same volume, then it changes, swelling disappears, etc. In this situation, a new residual limb is needed, which will be made from a new plaster cast and reproduced in the image of the residual limb, which is now formed in the person. In this way, the issue of the comfort of wearing the prosthesis is solved.

We try to make it clear that after amputation, it is necessary to start preparing for prosthetics in the first 2 or 3 months. Even before the operation, communication with the patient, the prosthetist’s and doctor’s technique is an integral part of rehabilitation, its first stages. The person is explained what the prosthesis will be, its fitting, preparation for prosthetics, exercises with the stump and general exercises so that there is no contracture. Unfortunately, in the military amputations are not planned, the main thing is to save a life. Therefore, the stumps are often irregularly shaped and scarred.

In the post-operative period, our document preparation department performs accompaniment for people with amputation, advising step-by-step execution for fast processing of documents.

Unfortunately, it remains a problem to find really high-quality specialists in prosthesis fabrication. There are dozens of them all over Ukraine, not more, and it is sad, because such specialists are very much needed now. There are a lot of private firms, but there are very few prosthetics technicians with experience. We mean that the experience of a prosthetist is not a year, not 3, but decades of experience. By inviting foreign specialists, our center solves many issues related to the complexities of prosthetics. They give master classes, talk about the latest technologies in prosthetics, etc. This is always a useful experience!

Successful and quality prosthetics rests on three pillars – rehabilitation, technical support and psychological support!