Sports Traumatology Vienna

In the field of trauma surgery and sports traumatology, the Wiener Privatklinik can point to a long tradition. This fire is passed down through generations of doctors and is continuously maintained. The patients of Wiener Privatklinik can continue to rely on receiving high-caliber, state-of-the-art treatment from recognized top physicians.

What is sports traumatology really?

Sports traumatology can be defined as a branch of sports orthopedics, which specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of injuries resulting from sports activities. It includes the diagnostics of musculoskeletal disorders, but also conservative and surgical treatment is included in the field of sports traumatology.

The aim of sports traumatology is to enable the patient to resume sporting activities, the target audience are here so mainly professional and amateur athletes.

When it is time to see a sports traumatologist?

Sports and related activities are part of a healthy lifestyle, but not just this: They strengthen the body and mind, which makes you physically and psychologically more persistent.

But of course there is a small downside to it: Sports are always accompanied by accidents! Especially professional athletes build up enormous pressure on their bodies and enormous energies leading often times to control loss and trauma.

Also recreational and amateur athletes which are exposed lower-energy sports less frequent suffer from permanent damage to joints and ligaments.

Most sports can result in both acute and chronic (permanent) conditions. Frequently, athletes present to sports traumatology with injuries to the joints.

Not coming as a surprise, most common causes for seeing a sports traumatology specialist are sports injuries in the leg area, followed by injuries affecting the shoulder and arm areas.

Sports Traumatology: Common sports injuries

Common knee sports injuries in sports traumatology include cruciate ligament tears, meniscus tears, tendon injuries of the knee joint and patellar luxations.

Shoulder injuries that sports traumatologist often have to deal with include shoulder dislocations, shoulder instability and rotator cuff ruptures.

Also ankle joint injuries are very common, including torn ligaments and achilles tendon tears.

Get to know leading sports traumatologists at the Wiener Privatklinik

Internationally known luminary Univ.-Prof. Dr. Rudolf Schabus has specialized in the surgical treatment of knee injuries with the new techniques of knee ligament surgery.

He has developed many surgical techniques of arthroscopic knee surgery himself; he was vice-president of the Society for Orthopedic Traumatologic Sports Medicine (GOTS) of the German-speaking countries; and he was the Davis Cup team physician of the Austrian national tennis team for many years. In short: Prof. Schabus is a luminary in the field of sports traumatology who is known far beyond the borders of Austria.

His main focus is arthroscopic cruciate ligament surgery, starting with preservation of proprioception by refixation of torn cruciate ligament bundles with synthetic augmentation as acute reconstruction and ending with ligament replacement to restore sports ability. “We surgeons reconstruct the anatomical joint structures, but the optimal postoperative result is achieved only through the physical therapies used in rehabilitation,” Schabus says modestly. The prominent sports traumatologist, who has written a standard work on the knee, was one of those dedicated doctors who, when they founded the Wiener Privatklinik 26 years ago, made it what it is today: one of Austria’s leading private clinics.

Priv.-Doz. Dr. Julian Jöstl, PhD, MSc, specializes in minimally invasive, joint-preserving care of the knee and shoulder.

His professional focus is on minimally invasive, joint-preserving care of the knee (meniscus, cruciate ligament, cartilage, etc.) and shoulder (tendon tears, bursitis, clavicle fracture, etc.), especially after sports injuries, as well as minimally invasive endoprosthetic care of the knee and hip joints (ALMIS technique).

Dr. Jöstl has worked in the field of orthopedics and trauma surgery for more than ten years and can point to more than 3,000 orthopedic and trauma surgery procedures as well as residencies at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital (both USA). “Professionalism coupled with state-of-the-art and excellent technical equipment, courteous and friendly staff, and a pleasant ambience provide the best conditions and guarantee excellent care for my patients,” says the specialist in orthopedics and traumatology in praise of the Wiener Privatklinik.

OA Dr. Markus Winnisch, MSc, specializes in sports traumatology and the entire field of knee and hip surgery.

He is the team physician of the Austrian Women’s National Soccer Team, which has enjoyed increasing attention in recent years, and he is the sports physician of the Vienna Police Sports Association (PSV Wien), which has 10,000 members, ranging from amateur to top athletes: Dr. Winnisch has already made a name for himself as a sports traumatologist, despite his youthful age for a medical doctor. His spectrum ranges from acute examinations to knee and hip surgery. Dr. Winnisch is the principal surgeon at a certified endoprosthetics center (EndoCert®) and thus a proven expert in this field. In addition to hip arthroplasty, one focus is reconstructive knee surgery: meniscal surgery (classic or with meniscal preservation), meniscal transplantation, knee arthroplasty, the patient-adapted knee prosthesis. The sports traumatologist already took his first steps at the Wiener Privatklinik in his student days and therefore has strong ties to the hospital.

Prof. Priv.-Doz. Dr. Harald K. Widhalm, MBA, specializes in the treatment of injuries and fractures of all bones as well as sports injuries of all kinds, especially knee injuries.

As head of the outpatient clinic for sports and joint injuries at the Department of Trauma Surgery at the Medical University of Vienna, Dr. Widhalm covers a very broad spectrum of injuries as a senior physician. He uses the latest techniques for knee injuries. The trauma surgeon and orthopedic surgeon with an additional specialty in sports traumatology, who studied in the U.S. with the world-famous arthroscopy and sports medicine pioneer Prof. Dr. Freddie Fu, appreciates above all the particularly pleasant environment, the competent and friendly staff, and the smooth processes in the hospital at the Wiener Privatklinik.

Prim. Priv.-Doz. Dr. Franz Kralinger has worked very intensively on the minimally invasive therapy of fractures with reduced bone quality.

Because society is increasingly aging, fractures in patients who already have an endoprosthesis are becoming more frequent. One of the physicians who specialize in these fractures with reduced bone quality is Prim. Kralinger. His other specialties are shoulder-elbow and knee surgery (arthroscopic and open) and revision surgery after failed surgical and non-surgical treatments. He worked for almost 20 years at the Innsbruck University Clinic for Trauma Surgery and Sports Traumatology and has been department head of Trauma Surgery and Sports Traumatology at the Ottakring Clinic in Vienna since 2015.

Contact your Wiener Privatklinik today for more information on the topic and beyond! Our medical core competences include Traumatology, Cardiovascular Medicine, Orthopedics and more! We have our focus set on providing our patients with outstanding care, while providing our affiliated physicians and staff with optimal working conditions through top notch medical care, competent healthcare and modern hospital management.