Procedures available at Fortis Memorial Research Institute
The Research Institute in the Fortis Memorial title gives reference to the Stem Cell Research facility within FMRI. Working with the FDA of America, it is one of the most advanced stem cell research institutes in the world. Much of the funding of this facility is incorporated into patient treatment at Fortis Memorial.
Operations and Procedures
Fortis Memorial fully caters for all types of surgical and medical treatment. It has a division for dental and eye surgery and a newly opened state-of-the art bone marrow transplant centre.
World leaders in orthopaedics, bariatrics, neurosurgery, heart surgery, cancer treatment, women’s health issues and of course, plastic surgery, Fortis Memorial offers outstanding services across all medical discipines.
However, being acutely aware of the time and distance travelled from New Zealand for treatment, International Surgery has focused on the following core procedures that carry the highest waiting lists in New Zealand.
key procedures:
- Orthopaedic knee, hip and other joint surgery.
- Gastric By-Pass for the treatment of obesity and Type 2 Diabetes.
- Plastic Surgery for body re-sculpturing after extensive weight loss.
Additional considerations:
- IVF – this is an area where Fortis Memorial have made rapid advances over recent years and are considerably less expensive than NZ treatments.
- Parkinson’s Disease: Fortis Memorial have for some time now been offering Deep Brain Stimulation that has shown dramatic results for some patients with Parkinsons Disease
International Surgery are able to offer these procedures at an affordable cost, that is in most instances, less than what you would pay for private surgery in New Zealand, plus there are no waiting lists!
Orthopaedic JOINT REPLACEMENTS
Hip and Knee replacements are carried out every day at Fortis Memorial. Using globally recognised brands, replacement joints are all recognised as being the best in the Industry. After a series of comprehensive patient assessments, the replacement joint selected for implant, will be the one most suited to the requirements of each individual patient.
Modern anaesthetic techniques allows patients to be up and walking on their new joints within a matter of hours.
In many instances traditional general anaesthetic is replaced with a nerve blocking procedure. This is becoming common place during surgery, as it offers faster recovery overall. Besides being able to effectively control pain, it allows patients to mobilise more quickly with less medication, and more importantly, it reduces some of the risks associated with a general anaesthetic, particularly prevelant with overweight joint sufferers.
Post operative care includes physiotherapy on a daily basis both in hospital and after discharge. As an outpatient, the rehabilitation team visits patients each day at their hotel or accomodation until treatment is completed.
Gastric ByPass
The problem of obesity has reached epidemic proportions in New Zealand and there is no way now or in the future that the New Zealand health system will be able to cope with the increasing demand on gastric by-pass surgery.
The team at Fortis Memorial have specialised in this procedure for many years and perfected it to the point where it is considered to be a low-risk procedure. It is the preferred treatment for obesity, however they also perform gastric-band or sleeve surgery only when specifically required, as they have found the procedure less than adequate with most bands needing further surgical intervention within a few years.
Gastric bypass surgery has been used in more and more cases to control and in some cases eliminate Type 2 Diabetes. A recent study performed in the UK recommended this procedure to control Type 2 Diabetes and a lot of discussions and articles in the press confirmed these findings.
In the months following a bypass procedure, significant weight loss can be achieved with care around diet and exercise. Such great weight loss can though, result in unwanted excess skin. The plastic surgery team at Fortis Memorial welcomes patients to return at a later date for follow-up plastic surgery, to reshape their body and remove the excess skin.
IVF
Fortis Memorial and other Fortis Hospital sites have introduced a ‘Ladies Only’ hospital facility to ensure their patients can have their procedures performed in a dignified women’s only facility.
Despite the numerous advances in IVF procedures, the success rate is still far from perfect, although it does appear that the Fortis Memorial success rate is far ahead of many other leading IVF Specialists.
Recognising this can be an extremely drawn out procedure, Fortis will collect sufficient sperm and eggs to allow for three cycles. Patients may choose to stay in India throughout this process or return to NZ and travel back to India for each cycle.
Parkinson’s Disease
This dreaded disease affects people from all walks of life and until now the most widely practised treatment has been medication which slows the deterioration process but can have a debilitating effect on the patient.
More recently, developments in surgical treatment involving the impant of a device called a neurostimulator, can considerably reduce the the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease for some patients not adequately controlled by medication. The implanted device provides electrical stimulation to targeted areas in the brain that control movement, blocking abnormal nerve signals causing the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease.
This, in layman’s terms, is rather like a pacemaker implanted in the chest to regulate the heart.
In carefuly selected patients, the effects are dramatic, and video footage showing patients who were previously unable to stand without nursing support and with no control over hands or speech, can, within days run unaided along a corridor, showing full hand and body movement.
Absolutely remarkable.