Ukraine: Save a Limb
"War is an epidemic of traumatic injuries”
– told Professor Nikolai Pirogov, Founder of Military Field Surgery.
Due to the vast number of anti-personnel mines laid by Russian forces, mine blast injuries have maimed many Ukrainian servicemen and civilians. Typically, such injuries lead to partial limb amputations. However, cutting‑edge technology now makes it possible to cultivate new bone fragments to replace destroyed bone, thus fully restoring the individual's normal life.
Since 2024, doctors in Ukraine have been performing surgeries to restore lost limb bone fragments using the RIA 2: Reamer‑Irrigator‑Aspirator of the second generation, manufactured by DePuy Synthes, USA. By applying RIA 2, surgeons collect tissue cells from undamaged bones, mix them with an "Artificial Bone" compound and mold a new bone section to replace the damaged one. This new section eventually integrated into the living bone. If performed in time, this surgery significantly reduces the risk of amputation.
€4 000
Cost of one RIA 2 set
RIA 2
Reamer‑Irrigator‑Aspirator
2nd generation
2024
First surgeries in Ukraine
The cost of one RIA 2 set is 4,000 euros. While Ukraine has qualified surgeons capable of performing bone repair using RIA 2, the high cost of the set limits the number of such operations. To help as many patients as possible, doctors and volunteers have created the project "Ukraine: Save a Limb for the Wounded!" Its goal is to raise funds for the purchase of the necessary equipment and medications.
Dr. Petrov Nikitin
Traumatologist‑Orthopedist, PhD, Head of Department at the Main Military Medical Clinical Centre of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
- “Medics in field hospitals save lives; we are here to restore them.”
