New clinic opens in Abu Dhabi to treat complex orthopaedic conditions, limb deformities

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi has a brand new clinic that is set to carry out complex orthopaedic surgeries and provide musculoskeletal care to patients.

The Paley Middle East Clinic, located at the Burjeel Medical City, has been launched under a collaboration between private healthcare provider, Burjeel Holdings, and deformity correction and limb lengthening expert and orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Dror Paley. The facility aims to become a hub for complex procedures in the region.

Paley Middle East Clinic is the first facility in the Middle East by Dr Paley, who has performed about 20,0000 limb lengthening and reconstruction procedures, and is said to have pioneered about 100 limb reconstruction procedures.

The clinic was inaugurated by Dr Paley and Dr Shamsheer Vayalil, founder and chairman of Burjeel Holdings.

“Orthopaedic care is needed everywhere, and I specifically treat a lot of children and adults with genetic and birth defects, and limb deformities. I’ve treated a lot of patients with genetic and birth conditions who come to me in the United States. Now we will be able to deliver those treatments here, and transform the UAE into a hub for limb lengthening and deformity correction that attracts patients from across the globe for cutting-edge treatments,” Dr Paley told Gulf News following the inauguration of the facility.

“We have a unique group of doctors, and I see our group of doctors bringing in the highest level of orthopaedic care available. This is not to see that the care is not already available, but our group will fill in the gaps in areas by making available or expanding treatments,” he added.

Common procedures

According to the surgeon, arthritic surgeries like hip and knee replacements, as well as sport medicine procedures like ligament and cartilage tear repairs are some of the most common orthopaedic procedures globally.

“Most of these are well done here already. We also have people doing this at the highest level, and our surgeons will serve as a resource to existing surgeons here. But you’ve got really complex spinal deformity problems and limb problems, as well as other areas that may not be as developed, such a shoulder replacements, [and we will provide care for these],” Dr Paley said.

Diabetic care

“In the Gulf, which has a very high rate of diabetes, there are a lot of foot-related problems. Diabetes causes a condition called charcot foot or neuropathic foot, where you lose the feeling in your foot so you end up breaking and damaging your joints. We have a doctor on our team who is a [a leading expert in this field], and helps save an [affected foot] where most other people would amputate it,” he added.

Treatments for amputees

The clinic also hopes to bring cutting-edge treatments to help amputees.

“Amputees who already have an amputation above the knee have to wear big and heavy sockets [to fit their prostheses]. The latest approach is called osteointegration, where you put in metal prosthetic inside the end of the bone through the skin, and you now attach the prosthesis to the metal, directly to the bone like a dental implant. This is not available here, and we would bring it here to help the amputees, [who have lost their limb] to road traffic accidents, war, cancer and other causes,” Dr Paley said.

Available experts

Dr Paley, who is founder and director of the Paley Institute in Florida, hopes to be available in Abu Dhabi about four times a year to see patients at the Paley Middle East Clinic, as he does at the Paley European Institute in Warsaw, Poland. In the meantime, the clinic will be staffed by three expert surgeons and other medical staff, and will see visits from other doctors at the Paley Institute in Florida.

In its first week, the new clinic is accommodating 15 patients from the UAE, and two patients from Russia.

Welcoming Dr Paley, John Sunil, Burjeel Holdings chief executive officer, said the collaboration is yet another important step in improving patient outcomes.

“Burjeel Holdings is constantly investing in and establishing new partnerships to identify cutting-edge medical technologies and innovations that can help us deliver complex care to the people. We are excited to welcome Dr Paley to our thriving practice. We believe his expertise will help the people in the region avail of almost every aspect of orthopaedic and neurosurgical care, making the UAE a most sought-after hub for such services,” Sunil said.