For the first time in Bulgaria, a child will be able to move her arm again thanks to a 3D printed individual endoprosthesis

For the first time in Bulgaria, an 11-year-old girl will be able to move her shoulder and arm again thanks to a unique surgery that removed a tumor and placed an individual 3D prosthesis, the University Hospital Eurohospital Plovdiv said. The child had a malignant tumor on the right shoulder blade (scapula) covering the right upper arm bone as well.

The team of leading orthopaedic surgeons removed the malignant tumour by total removal of the right shoulder blade and the upper end of the right shoulder bone of the little patient in the Orthopaedics and Traumatology Department of the University Hospital Eurohospital Plovdiv. The surgeons replaced the removed shoulder blade and the bone with a 3D-printed endoprosthesis with a double-hinged articulation for the shoulder, designed specifically for the 11-year-old girl.

The prosthesis was custom-made for the girl after a 3D reconstruction was performed using a pre-fabricated scanner. The prosthesis is made of titanium with a diamond coating and is wrapped with a textile tube.

The operation, which lasted 4 hours, was performed by a team of doctors from the departments of Orthopedics and Traumatology and Anesthesiology and Intensive Care of the University Hospital "Eurohospital Plovdiv" under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Vladimir Stavrev MD and Prof. Dr. Lyuben Stokov MD. The team also includes a specialist in vascular surgery. The same team at Eurohospital Plovdiv, a year and a half ago, saved the leg of a 4-year-old child by an individual double growing tumor knee endoprosthesis.

In the current operation, thanks to the innovative technical solution, the girl is expected to move her upper right limb without a problem after the necessary rehabilitation. The 11-year-old girl is from Pleven, but has been living in Plovdiv for several months for treatment. Preoperative chemotherapy was performed according to the relevant protocol. Once discharged, the patient will continue chemotherapy.