Ascend Recovery: Dedicated Medical Accommodation in Stellenbosch for Limb Lengthening & Osseointegration Patients At Dr Franz Birkholtz Orthopaedics, we understand that world-class surgical care is only one part of a successful outcome. Recovery - structured, supported, and safe, is equally…
When we think of limb lengthening, we often think of bones like the femur or tibia. It is however possible to lengthen many bones in the body. Brachymetatarsia is a condition where one of the 'ray bones' or metatarsals in…
Exciting New Treatment Coming to Stellenbosch We are proud to announce that our orthopaedic practice at the Institute of Orthopaedics and Rheumatology, Stellenbosch, will soon be offering a groundbreaking limb-saving treatment for patients with severe diabetic ulcers: Transverse Bone Transport. This innovative approach uses…
The Fitbone nail is an intamedullary motorised lengthening nail used for deformity correction, as well as lengthening of long bones. Originally designed and developed in Germany, under the guidance of Prof R Baumgart, it has been used in thousands of…
For centuries the only way to attach an artificial limb to an amputee's body was to use a socket. Socket-based prostheses have come a long way and have provided high level function to the vast majority of amputees. They do,…
We recently hosted 6 surgeons from around South Africa and the United Kingdom in our practice @IOR. The surgeons benefitted from intensive hands-on training by Dr B, his team and his patients. A good time was had by all. #craftingbettersurgeons
I often get asked: "What is Limb Reconstruction Surgery". Well, firstly, it is the speciality in orthopaedics that best describes what I do. It is a field in orthopaedics dedicated to the art and science of rebuilding limbs that were…
This friendly young lady has a history that stretches over many years, many surgeries and many surgeons. Almost everything had been tried when she came to us for treatment. Other surgeons have advised an amputation. We offered a closed distraction…
This young patient had an unfortunate injury which, despite his doctors' best efforts, resulted in this non-union with mal-position of his tibia. It followed on an open fracture which he had sustained. A non-union like this is of course unsightly,…
This young boy presented with an established non-union through the left proximal femur. It was deformed and painful and had occurred through an area of abnormal bone. An assessment was done and the main purpose of surgery was to optimise…