A person from Vietnam has a functioning elbow for the primary time in 27 years, due to a 3D-printed megaprosthesis that, in accordance with the surgical staff, has no home precedent.
Vu Hong Phong’s scenario was difficult. A number of surgical procedures over 27 years hadn’t fastened the post-traumatic deformity. By the point he reached Vinmec, his elbow joint was fused, unstable, and lacking roughly 6 centimeters of bone. His left arm was noticeably shorter than his proper.
Customary elbow alternative wasn’t an possibility.
A Case Past Standard Options
Megaprostheses are outsized implants designed to switch giant sections of bone. They had been initially developed for limb-salvage surgical procedure in most cancers sufferers dealing with amputation. Their use on the elbow joint, significantly for non-oncologic circumstances like decades-old trauma, stays unusual.
“That is a particularly uncommon case with a really excessive degree of complexity, and there are just about no precedents in Vietnam,” stated Dr. Tran Quyet, who heads higher limb surgical procedure at Vinmec’s orthopedic trauma heart.
From CT Scan to Customized Implant
The surgical staff reconstructed Phong’s remaining elbow anatomy digitally utilizing CT-based modeling on an in-house platform. This allowed them to map the defect intimately, simulate the reconstruction, and 3D print a megaprosthesis matched to his particular anatomy.
Vinmec has not disclosed specifics on the printing know-how or implant materials, citing partnership agreements.
What we do know: the surgical procedure was accomplished with out nerve or vascular issues. Phong was transferring his arm gently inside three days, and had full extension, flexion, and overhead mobility inside two weeks.
A part of a Broader Push
This isn’t Vinmec’s first notable 3D printing case. The hospital beforehand accomplished what they describe as Southeast Asia’s first absolutely 3D-printed titanium chest wall reconstruction. Then in 2025, they used a custom-printed metallic implant for a complete femoral alternative in a younger little one with aggressive bone most cancers, preserving the limb when amputation had been the anticipated path.
Vinmec positions these circumstances as a part of a patient-first method that integrates digital planning and additive manufacturing for sufferers who might have exhausted typical choices. Whether or not that mannequin scales past particular person successes will rely upon long-term outcomes and continued funding of their in-house capabilities.
The elbow case is extra area of interest, but it surely provides to a rising portfolio that’s price waiting for anybody monitoring medical 3D printing within the area.
