St. Nicholas hospital has increased its healthcare services to Nigerians through its recent addition of orthopaedic sports medicine.
The hospital is now providing healthcare solutions to patients suffering from orthopaedic conditions while impacting the advancement of complex orthopaedic solutions to Nigeria and other Africa countries in order to improve outcomes in orthopaedic sports medicine.
The regenerative orthopaedic service at St. Nicholas hospital is in conjunction with Dr. Ralph Rogers, a world-famous clinician in Regenerative Orthopaedic Sports Medicine and Urgent Care at Rogers Regenerative Medical Group (RRMG) Harley Street London.
“St. Nicholas Hospital is proud to announce the commencement of Regenerative Orthopaedic Therapies, the first of its kind in Nigeria,” said Rogers during a press briefing.
“Regenerative medicine is an exciting and revolutionary field of orthopaedics designed to heal pains without surgery. It is an excellent option for sports injuries, sprains and strains, and joint damage,” he added.
According to Rogers, Regenerative Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine involves minimally invasive, non-surgical orthopaedic treatments to patients for the fortification and healing of injuries to the skeleton, muscle, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and other soft tissues in the body.
He noted that people who suffer joint pains, arthritis or osteoarthritis, muscle and nerve spasms, tennis elbow, tendinopathy and musculoskeletal conditions can now be beneficiaries of this novel service.
Rogers explained that through Regenerative Orthopaedics, personalized treatment methods are employed to utilize the body’s recuperative systems to help correct orthopaedic injuries whilst avoiding the need for surgery, adding that the procedure does not require general anesthesia, an overnight hospital stay is not required.
“These pioneering treatments include lipogems, PRP – Platelet-Rich Plazma, ESWT (Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy), Tenex and Musculoskeletal Ultrasound to name but a few,” he said.
Explaining further on the therapies, Ishaq Ojodu, Orthopaedic Consultant Surgeon and Head of Emergency Medical Services at St. Nicholas Hospital said that for conditions like Arthritis, Osteoarthritis, Knee, hip, back, shoulder pain, foot/ankle, wrist/hand injuries are treated using Lipogems.
According to him, Lipogems is one out of the seven methods used for these therapies, adding that Lipogems is a technology used to obtain stem cells from fat that will be aspirated/removed by suction from the abdomen or lower back. Fat will be processed to obtain stem cells which will then be injected back into the bone.
“These procedures take just a day and does not require hospital admissions, stating that it depends on the type of procedure being offered to a patient, but generally the procedures take about 45mins to 120mins and the patient is expected to come back after 2 weeks to evaluate the improvement gained from the procedure.
“A large number of Nigerians suffer from spine or joint pains, arthritis or osteoarthritis, muscle and nerve spasms, tennis elbow, tendinopathy, and musculoskeletal conditions adding that many of these patients cannot withstand surgical treatment, with other therapies not giving solution to relieve them of the pains, hence, they live with those conditions for the rest of their lives.
“Some of these patients travel abroad to seek care, thereby contributing to the amount lost to medical tourism in the country,” Ojodu.
However, as a multi-specialist medical facility, St. Nicholas Hospital has in over half a century of existence delivered effective, efficient, and outstanding patient care. This has been achieved through the provision of high-quality medical and surgical services for patients who access care at the hospital from different parts of Nigeria.
“Nigeria has an aging population who are developing degenerative diseases, which is why the hospital has introduced new modality of managing these diseases in the country. The hospital is poised to deliver sustainable interventions in the area of orthopaedic healthcare in Nigeria and the world at large, especially in resolving joint pains for patients,” said Ebun Bamgboye, Clinical Director and Nephrologist, St. Nicholas Hospital, earlier in his welcome address.
Bamgboye further added that the hospital will continue to serve the healthcare needs of its community by providing comprehensive care to prevent illness, relieve suffering, restore health and promote wellbeing during each life stage through advanced procedures and modern technology within available resources.
“As a medical institution geared towards ensuring healthcare services are accessible by all Nigerians regardless of status, the hospital has engaged serval measures to ensure healthcare services are delivered to patients at reasonable and affordable cost also measures to ensure the regenerative orthopaedic medicine is made available to all Nigerians, the hospital has engaged Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) to improve their coverage, as wells as the hospital’s charity arm to provide financial support for patients,” added Diran Famakinwa, Chief Financial Officer, St. Nicholas Hospital.
