Sports Hospital Surgery

Tendon injuries are typical ailments for athletes. Achilles tendon injuries are often the result of overexertion, and partial or complete tears of the Achilles are unfortunately common among athletes.

Somewhat less common, but equally debilitating tendon injuries suffered by athletes are hamstring and groin area injuries. Mehiläinen Sports Hospital is recognised as a world leader in hamstring injuries in particular, in terms of both research and clinical practice. Giving the correct diagnosis and treatment for these injuries requires in-depth knowledge and experience from the orthopaedic surgeon.

Some of the typical injuries we treat are:

• Achilles tendon injuries
• Tendon injuries in the groin area
• Hamstring tendon injuries

The treatment opportunities for shoulder ailments and injuries have advanced tremendously in recent years. In highly skilled hands, new arthroscopic surgery techniques permit the treatment of injuries that just a few years ago would have gone untreated. Our shoulder surgeons actively contribute to the development of new surgical techniques. This allows us to guarantee our patients the best treatment results even in the most challenging cases.

Typical shoulder conditions and injuries treated at the Sports Hospital:

• Impingement syndrome
• Rotator cuff rupture
• Instability following dislocated shoulder (Bankart and Latarjet procedures)
• Pain and instability after dislocated clavicle (AC reconstruction)
• Biceps tendon injuries
• Shoulder nerve compression syndromes

Pain caused by an elbow joint trauma should be examined early, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) if necessary. Arthroscopic surgery on the elbow joint is a procedure that demands a high level of specialist skill. Patients who have procedures conducted by a surgical expert in the field, such as our Sports Hospital’s Dr Terho Kainonen, will recover quickly.

Acute and chronic elbow conditions can be treated with modern, minimally invasive surgical techniques. The most common chronic elbow condition is inflammation of the outer part of the elbow, aka tennis elbow or lateral epicondylitis, which today can be treated with arthroscopic surgery.

Degenerative joint disease (osteoarthritis) can cause stiffness in the elbow joints. Arthroscopic surgical procedures to improve range of motion often result in a considerable improvement in the patient’s upper extremity movement.

Some of the typical elbow problems we treat are:

• Tennis elbow or lateral epicondylitis
• Degenerative joint disease in the elbow
• Pain and stiffness caused by trauma to the elbow joint
• Elbow ligament injuries

Our Sports Hospital’s knee surgery team in Turku, headed by associate professors Jussi Rantanen and Janne Sarimo, performs over 1,000 surgical procedures on knees every year. We are proud of the knee team, which specialises in treating even the most complicated knee ligament injuries. Our hospital has been the choice for treatment for knee injuries of several world-class athletes.

We treat the following injuries:

• Meniscal tears to the knee
• Knee ligament injuries
• Patellar (kneecap) dislocation
• Knee cartilage injuries
• Patellar tendinitis (“jumper’s knee”)

Problems affecting the ankle are among the most common sports injuries. Most often, ankle ligament injuries (sprains, distension, distortion) do not require surgery; a good treatment outcome can be achieved with the right kind of support and physiotherapy. Some typical ankle injuries do involve surgically correcting ankle instability (ankle ligament reconstructive surgery). Other common reasons for ankle surgery are Achilles tendon rupture and chronic Achilles tendinopathy (aka tendinosis).

The orthopaedic surgeons at our Sports Hospital have extensive experience of treating foot and ankle injuries. Professional athletes around the world rely on our expertise.

Our services include the following:

• Achilles tendon surgery
• Correction of ankle instability
• Surgery of other tendons around the ankle and foot

Surgery of the lumbar and cervical spine

At Mehiläinen Sports Hospital, the treatment of back conditions and injuries, including the related surgical procedures, is handled by our experienced neurosurgeon Janek Frantzén.

Typical back conditions and injuries are:

• Herniated disc in the lumbar and cervical region (slipped disc)
• Narrowing of the spinal canal (spinal stenosis)
• Degenerative disc disease in the lumbar region
• Cervical spine injuries
• Other back ailments and conditions, such as stress fractures