In Lviv, as part of the fifth joint medical mission of surgeons from Italy, foreign and local specialists examined eight patients of St Panteleimon Hospital and carried out three highly complex microsurgical operations to reconstruct soft tissues. This was reported by the First Medical Association of Lviv.
During the surgical interventions, microsurgical reconstruction techniques using free flaps were applied. In particular, these were ALT flap techniques, where the flap is taken from the anterolateral surface of the thigh, and the Free Fibula flap, where the graft is harvested from the lower leg.
As noted by Nazar Mospan, surgeon at St Panteleimon Hospital, joint operations with foreign colleagues make it possible to apply new techniques that had not previously been performed at this facility or were done differently, as well as to improve preoperative assessment and preparation of patients.
“We try to carry out operations with foreign surgeons that we have never performed here before, or that we have performed, but with different technical nuances. In this way we improve both in terms of surgical technique and in terms of flap marking, patient assessment and preoperative preparation,” says Nazar Mospan, surgeon at St Panteleimon Hospital.
This surgical mission was already the fifth within the framework of cooperation between the First Medical Association of Lviv and the Rizzoli Institute, one of the world’s leading orthopaedic centres. Over five days, Italian and Ukrainian specialists worked on complex clinical cases: they consulted patients, determined treatment strategies and performed operations.
The mission was led by renowned orthoplastic surgeon Francesco Mori, and coordination was overseen by Greta Baccaro, project manager at the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute. The team of foreign specialists also included representatives of the Italian Red Cross — regional delegate in Ukraine Guya Gola and regional delegate in Europe Flavio Ciriaci.
Previously, surgeons and orthopaedic trauma specialists from St Panteleimon and St Luke’s hospitals had already undertaken placements at the Rizzoli Institute. The current mission took place within the framework of the project “Supporting the Ukrainian population in the field of prosthetics, treatment and rehabilitation in the context of the wartime emergency”.
The First Medical Association of Lviv provides a full range of modern medical care — from diagnostics and treatment to complex surgical interventions, rehabilitation and prosthetics. The association includes St Panteleimon, St Luke’s, St Nicholas and St Anne’s hospitals, the UNBROKEN rehabilitation centre and treatment and diagnostic centres.