Vreden Russian Research Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics

Operative orthopaedics, training and research have been a mainstay of the Vreden Institute in St. Petersburg, Russia, since the time that Roman Romanovic Vreden foundation it in the heart of the city in 1906. In the first decades after the institute’s founding, scientific research was conducted into arthrodesis of large joints, treatment of tubercular defects, and the development of bone grafting techniques. During the 4 decades when the Iron Curtain was in place, intensive scientific research on a wide spectrum of traumatology and orthopaedics was carried out at the institute. In the 1950s, most research fellows devoted themselves to treating individuals with gunshot fractures. The hand surgery branch was developed in the 1960s. Osteosynthesis of extremity fractures, particularly through Ilizarov-like external fixation techniques, and hip arthroplasty were the focus of research and clinical practices at the institute in the 1970s, while work in the 1980s was mainly devoted to treating nonunions and deformities in the spine and extremities Construction of the current R.R. Vreden Institute building in St. Petersburg was completed in 1988. It includes an 830-bed hospital, fully equipped laboratories and a rehabilitation center. New prosthesis designs for joint arthroplasty, internal fixation devices, arthroscopic procedures and equipment and better approaches to rehabilitation were among the new technology that gradually flowed to the institute after the fall of the Iron Curtain, noting the improvements seen thereafter in outcomes following orthopaedic treatment. In 1990 "Spinal Surgery and Oncology Department" was organized. The current research projects are correction of spinal deformity, management of spinal oncology, treatment of degenerative disc disease and adjacent segment disease, arthroplasty after tumor resection.