The Surgical Department of the Zaporizhia regional Children’s Clinical Hospital needs…a welding instrument!
Are you surprised? Because of this tool, surgeries without blood, sutures or a long rehabilitation period can become a reality for children in Zaporizhia. A group of Ukrainian scientists from the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the National Academy of Sciences have designed a unique device. Instead of suturing, this device can simply ‘fuse’ soft tissues affected by surgery.
According to the deputy head doctor of the Zaporizhia regional Children’s Clinical Hospital, Evgeny Kopylov, this device will allow surgeons to achieve a new level of effectiveness in treatment. Put simply, this device assists “the welders” in white surgical coats in joining the tissue surfaces and contracting them with electrodes and electric current. So, in this way, step by step the surgeons can ‘suture’ the edges of tissues without using any stitches or needles. This reduces blood loss and eases postoperative pains. The economic advantages are obvious as well: suture material and clips would be almost unnecessary. The welding instrument not only reduces surgery time and rehabilitation period, but medical expenses for patients as well.
The first surgeries proving the effectiveness of this medical discovery were performed by scientists in 1993 together with the surgeons from the Institute of Clinical Experimental Surgery and the OHMADET clinic. Today there are up to 1, 500 operations done on different inner organs with a welding instrument. Not a single patient experienced postsurgical complications or blood loss. This kind of surgery, completed with the help of welding of soft tissues has been performed on patents from Ukraine, the USA and Australia.
Evgeny Petrovych is sure that the welding instrument can be used in all kinds of operations, including inner organ surgery.
“When I first saw this tool in action I realized how we much were failing to keep pace with life. The most important point is that this device is indispensable for children’s surgery. It’s unbelievable but this welding instrument allows us to fuse vessels which are only 17 millimeter in diameter! And what’s more we have the opportunity to get this tool not from somewhere abroad but from Ukrainian manufacturers”.
This medical tool costs approximately 55, 000 hryvnyas ($6,865 US dollars). Unfortunately, our government doesn’t finance such projects. So, we are appealing to all of you, to all kind-hearted people! Let’s help our children cry less and get well soon!
