Clinical practice

The Rizzoli Institute Unit of Functional Recovery and Rehabilitation focuses on the assessment and rehabilitative treatment of orthopedic pathologies, especially:
 

• Conditions of the hip, knee and ankle after complex or innovative reconstruction surgery (primary implant of endoprosthesis and arthroprosthesis or revision of implants, resurfacing prosthesis);
• Orthopaedic oncologic surgery;
• Spine disorders conservatively or surgically treated (scoliosis, kyphosis, vertebral disk disorders).

Organization

The services offered by the Unit include the following activities:

• Physiatric consultancy and rehabilitative take-in-charge of patients hospitalized at the orthopedic ward;
• Rehabilitation at the orthopedic ward;
• Intensive rehabilitation in the orthopedics and rehabilitation wards.

Rehabilitation at the Rizzoli Institute Orthopaedic Wards

For patients hospitalized in the Orthopedic Wards who underwent surgical operations, the Unit provides postoperative rehabilitation from the very beginning. Within 24 working hours from the orthopedic surgeon’s request, patients are assessed by the physiatrician, who fixes a rehabilitation program. Physiotherapists perform treatment twice a day at the patient’s bedside.

Patients with complex rehabilitation problems are transferred to the in-patient ward within the Institute (see ordinary hospitalization).

Intensive ordinary hospitalization (cod. 56)

The ward disposes of 17 beds organized in 8 rooms with 2 beds and 1 room with 1 bed, all provided with accessible bathroom. Routine hospitalization focuses on the continuous rehabilitation treatment for patients surgically treated at the Department’s orthopedic wards.

In particular, we treated patients who underwent surgery for:
 

• Prosthetic first implants in complex diseases (osteoarthrosis, hip dysplasia, severe rheumatic diseases)
• Revision of hip and knee prosthetic implants;
• Hip implant removal;
• Synthesis of fractures for large skeletal segments (eg: pelvic fractures) or fractures of the limbs (eg: femur fractures);
• Vertebral stabilizations or other vast spine surgery;
• Reconstructive interventions for oncologic pathologies;
• Amputation of lower limb.

The patient is assessed and an individual rehabilitation project is programmed, aiming to the recovery of functional independence. The team participating in the project consists of health professionals, physiotherapists, nurses and other assistance professionals; each contributing to reach the objective in the shortest time possible. Rehabilitation consists of two daily sessions (morning and afternoon) directly performed at the patient’s bedside or in the equipped gym of the hospital. During hospitalization, patients are also educated by the staff on the progressive recovery of autonomy in their everyday activities.