Armando Pires , orthopaedist and director of the Knee Pathology Center at Hospital da Luz Coimbra , applied another knee prosthesis using the technology of computerized cutting blocks . Aware of the current importance of orthopaedic surgery – with an increasing need of intervention in the treatment of lesions and re-establishment of the proper locomotion in patients –, Hospital da Luz Coimbra continues to invest strongly in the Clinical Centre of Knee Pathology, which also offers the most rigorous means of diagnosis and the capacity to apply less invasive surgical techniques. With over 15 thousand surgeries performed throughout his career, Armando Pires is one of the major national specialists in the use of the technology of computerized cutting guides, that allows to insert prostheses perfectly adapted to each patient. “This is a revolutionary system in the treatment of knee arthrosis, used in the world’s best surgical centres. The patient undergoes magnetic resonance and X-ray and, then, those exams are forwarded to a specialized centre in the United States. There, with the help of computer engineering, an exact three-dimensional model is built, using the cutting guides adapted to the patient, for a correct moulding of the prosthesis”, explains the specialist. “This prosthesis reduces some errors of application, enhancing orientation and balance, and providing higher mobility, stability, durability and, generally, causing less pain”, he adds. In what concerns surgery, this method, by avoiding some steps and the spinal canal invasion, allows less bleeding , a shorter period of anaesthesia and, consequently, faster interventions . “These advantages help to reduce blood loss, there is no need to use as much surgical material, therefore reducing the risk of infection. To these advantages are also added a " reduced time of hospitalization, lower surgical aggression, faster recovery and reduced need of a revision surgery ”. The areas of intervention of Armando Pires include also knee arthroscopy (a minimally invasive surgery), arthroplasty (total and partial knee prostheses), prosthesis revision, ligamentoplasty, treatment of meniscal lesions, patella and patellofemoral instability surgery, cartilage lesions, knee osteotomy (correction of anatomical axis deviations), hip surgery, and orthotraumatological pathology in general. In the photo above, Armando Pires and José Andrade, orthopaedists, and Joana Pinto, nurse.
