Surgery Clinic

The Surgery Clinic of East Tallinn Central Hospital is a safe place where one can find modern medical aid for diseases requiring surgical treatment. We are consistently working towards better treatment and for you to wish to come back here if necessary.

The Surgery Clinic is characterised by its experienced, well-trained and dedicated personnel, an environment that is employee and patient friendly, and excellent opportunities for tests and treatment together with the application of evidence-based innovations. Thanks to new technologies and the development of intensive care, modern surgery is ever faster, more effective, safer and less damaging. More and more frequently we are operating on patients who are older and suffering from serious comorbidities. Rapid recovery following surgery is also important.

Surgery has been an important treatment route for East Tallinn Central Hospital throughout the long history of the hospital. In 1887, the first operating room was opened in Priihospidal and in 1891, the hospital performed 65 surgeries.

Today's Surgery Clinic was established in January 1995 on the basis of the departments with a surgical profile at Tallinn Central Hospital. Thanks to long-term experience and the patients’ confidence, we have now reached substantial work volumes. Every year more than 100,000 medical visits are made to the outpatient offices of the surgery clinic and almost 10,000 patients are treated in the inpatient and outpatient surgery departments. There are over 550 people working at the Surgery Clinic: over 100 doctors, 280 nurses and 150 caretakers, plus secretaries, social workers and other hard-working assistants.

Skills centres

Daily surveillance work requires all of our doctors to know acute surgical diseases well. On the other hand, the rapid development of today's medical science, requires doctors to specialise and be up to date with the respective narrow field. Therefore, the most important development area of the surgery clinic is the creation of skills centres in the more narrow and complex fields of surgery.

The Surgery Clinic also holds nurses' appointments in a number of fields. For example, at the appointment of a wound care nurse, professional wound care is given and attention is paid to teaching patients how to cope with taking care of the wounds at home.

Treatment of malignancies

The increase of cancer incidences, increasingly more accurate diagnostics for the early detection of tumours and the expansion of treatment opportunities has inevitably changed our systematic and surgical treatment of malignant tumours to an important area of our hospital.

In order to best combine different methods of cancer treatment, all treatment decisions are made in local oncological councils involving experts of diagnosis and treatment.

The surgeons of the clinic have specialised in the surgery of the tumours of different organs. This provides great experience, consistent training and allows one to concentrate on newer achievements in the world. It also allows one to select the best methods for the patient to treat their illness.

The use of organ sustainable (e.g. oncoplastic surgery, the removal of lymph nodes in the technique of nuclear medicine), mini-invasive (e.g. laparoscopic surgery) and the methods of reconstructive surgery and new technologies (e.g. hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC), radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is also important in the surgery of tumours.

All gastrointestinal, skin, soft tissues (muscle tissues, adipose tissues, connective tissues), bone, endocrine system (glands) and urological tumours are treated at the surgery clinic, and in cooperation with the women's clinic, also breast and gynaecological tumours.

In the case that a malignant tumour is suspected, general practitioners have the opportunity to use an online consultation; if the patient is referred, we can find an appointment in a week.

Cooperation

The cooperation with the general practitioners of northern Estonia and hospitals in the counties, based on the interests of patients, is important for the surgery clinic – organising training, the simplification of referring patients to tests and treatment. With regard to radiotherapy, we have excellent cooperation with the radiotherapy centre of the North Estonia Medical Centre.

As a teaching hospital clinic, we are the learning base for pupils, students and residents from Tallinn's secondary schools, the University of Tartu and Tallinn Health College.

In order to achieve the best treatment results, cooperation with all the other units of the hospital is important. The existence of all specialising centres dealing with important diagnostics and treatment allows one to deal with very different diseases in a comprehensive way. Inter-clinic so-called multidisciplinary teams have evolved in the hospital which deal with the prevention, diagnostics and treatment of diseases, also with teaching, science and development work and therefore, it is the competence centre for its area of activity in northern Estonia. The Surgery Clinic leads, for example, teams such as the treatment of obesity (in cooperation with endocrinology, gastroenterology, rehabilitation), spinal diseases (in cooperation with neurology, rheumatology, pain management, rehabilitation), foot disorders (in cooperation with endocrinology, rheumatology, vascular surgery, rehabilitation).