Krefeld: Expansion of robotic surgery and advancement of operating suites

The surgeon chooses the correct surgical method according to the form and severity of the joint damage. Depending on how badly the knee is damaged, it may have to be partially or completely replaced.

If the joint damage is too heavy and the physiotherapy no longer helps, the knee can be replaced in whole or in part by an artificial joint.

When we walk, stand up, climb or go down the stairs, we use one important joint: the knee. Learn more about how it is organized.

The most common cause of knee pain or other complaints about knee joints is age-related destruction of joint cartilage. These changes are also called knee joint osteoarthroses or, in a different way, gonarthroses. Typical symptoms are swelling and redness in the knee area, increased muscle tension, unusual sounds ("friction noises") or deterioration of stability and volume of movement.

The success of the surgery and the healing process is largely up to you. With proper preparation and proper precautions, you can significantly reduce the risks involved and thus contribute to a faster recovery.

If people experience joint pain, they often avoid unnecessary movements. However, rest and lack of mobility lead to muscle loss and even greater physical limitations. So keep moving as much as possible. This will help to recover faster after the surgery, to recover more beneficially and to improve your chances of achieving health goals.

After knee or hip replacement surgery, you usually stay in the clinic for another six days. During this time, you will gradually restore your independent life skills - of course, with the support of the hospital staff.

Immediately after surgery, painful sensations often occur. Therefore, the anesthesiologist and surgeon will tell you about suitable painkillers, which are sometimes necessary within a few postoperative weeks.

Katsiaryna Halkina is 23 years old, and has been active in sports since she was five years old. As well as for many professional athletes, the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted Katsiaryna’s plans to attend the Tokyo Olympics 2020, which have been postponed to 2021. However, besides the COVID-19 pandemic, she suddenly has started feeling pain in her right foot.

For five years, the girl had unsuccessfully tried various treatment methods until she underwent an innovative procedure that is currently offered only at the Helios Hospital Krefeld, Germany. Thanks to this procedure, she has already started training and is preparing for her return.

To ensure an exact fit to the patient's anatomy, Helios Hospital Krefeld works with customized templates for the placement and stabilization of the implant components - PSI (Patient Specific Implantation).

The 16-year-old hid her crooked back under large T-shirts and wore a painful corset. But her spine continued to curve. Only surgery could help her – and it also increased the girl's height by five centimeters.

With the accelerated recovery method, patients get up on their feet on the day of surgery, experience less pain, and spend less time in the hospital. Prof. Dr. Thorsten Gehrke, Medical Director of the Helios ENDO-Clinic estimates that about 85 percent of patients can benefit from this method. 

A new computerised robot-assisted system is now used in knee joint surgical interventions by the orthopedic team at Helios Hospital Berlin-Buch. It optimizes the knee joint prosthesis adaptation and ensures its optimal fit. It ensures increased patient satisfaction with an artificial joint.

Today we are talking to Prof. Dr. Med. Clayton Kraft, head of the clinic for orthopedics, trauma, and hand surgery at Helios Hospital Krefeld, about orthopedic procedures as well as modern and traditional approaches in endoprosthetic surgery.

As of June 1, Helios Hospital Berlin-Buch will be a partner hospital of Europe's largest specialist clinic for endoprosthetics, sports orthopedics and spine surgery - ENDO-Klinik Hamburg. After two years of preparation, endoprosthetic care at the highest medical level is now available to all patients in the region.

A new robotic arm-assisted surgical procedure now supports the medical team of the Endoprosthetics Center at Helios Hospital München West in the use of artificial knee joints. The Mako system does not replace the surgeon, nor does it operate independently. "Rather, the robot 'lends' its precision to the surgeon and assists in planning and performing the procedure with the greatest possible accuracy," says Assoc. Prof. Dr. Martin Thaler, chief physician of the Endoprosthetics Center Munich West.

At the Endoprosthetics Center Munich West, a knee prosthesis has been implanted for the first time using robotic arm-assisted technology. The new Mako system offers more safety and precision for patients.

 “All-in-one”: The "Ortho-Campus" in Hüls as part of Helios Hospital Krefeld offers joint replacement and rehabilitation under one roof. There is no need anymore to switch between the hospital, where the surgery is carried out, and a rehabilitation center. The same surgeon and medical team accompany the patient throughout his/her whole process: from the first consultation and taking the decision for surgery, during the surgery and even into rehabilitation.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Martin Thaler, head of endoprosthetics at Helios Hospital München West, is a pioneer of a particularly gentle surgical technique for hip operations. He has been operating on patients for over 20 years using the so-called bikini incision.

Real patients report - people of different ages tell their stories: About their joint pain and surgery, rehab and how it is to live with the new knee or hip joint.

When is an artificial hip joint used? How does the operation proceed? And how do patients who are operated on at the Helios Klinikum Siegburg benefit? We asked Dr. Dennis Vogel, head physician for special orthopedic surgery, endoprosthetics and foot surgery.

The Hamburg Open will continue to rely on the ENDO-Clinic Hamburg, the ENDO Rehab Center and the MVZ arGon as its sports medicine partners in 2024. The team is led by Hamburg orthopedic surgeon Dr. Volker Carrero, who is entering his sixteenth year as tournament doctor at Hamburg's Rothenbaum.

According to statistics, around 200,000 people in Germany receive an artificial knee joint (total knee arthroplasty, knee TEP) every year. One of the main reasons for the use of such a prosthesis is cartilage wear (osteoarthritis) in the knee, less frequently inflammation or injury. As a rule, the use of a knee TEP leads to significant pain relief, greater mobility and therefore also to a better quality of life. "In rare cases, however, patients continue to struggle with chronic pain without us being able to find a tangible cause. We now know that chronic inflammation of pathological, newly formed vessels around the knee can be one of the causes of the pain," explains Dr. Dennis Vogel, Head of Special Orthopaedic Surgery, Endoprosthetics and Foot Surgery at Helios Hospital Siegburg.

Daniela Wehrmann had an artificial hip joint (hip TEP) fitted on both sides in just one operation - and she was already taking her first steps the day after the procedure.

As part of the cooperation between the Helios ENDO-Klinik Hamburg and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), which was launched on April 1, 2025, the specialist clinic for joint replacement and spinal surgery was able to recruit three outstanding doctors from the UKE. The three surgeons not only bring extensive expertise and many years of experience in their specialist field, but also strengthen the area of teaching and research in particular.

Since early 2020, the Hüls Ortho Campus in Krefeld has been setting new standards in endoprosthetic care with an innovative concept. In the field of joint surgery, this includes robot-assisted implantation of knee and hip joints as well as the development of tailored treatment pathways, such as the “Senior Track,” for which the team recently received an award. The commitment to providing patients with the highest level of care has also been confirmed by the NRW Hospital Plan.