Academic Hospital of Vrije University Brussels Presentation

History
AZ-VUB is the university hospital of Vrije University Brussels. It is located on the Medical Campus of Jette together with the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacology. Founded in 1977, this Dutch-speaking university hospital has a Flemish character and a reputation as a liberal institution with a social approach to patient care.

During its 25-year history AZ-VUB has grown progressively to become an internationally recognised university centre, with 679 beds and some 2 000 employees. Its emergency department is among the largest in Belgium, with an estimated catchment area of 200 000 people. Each year over 25 000 inpatients and 400 000 outpatients are treated at the hospital with the highest standards of care. Groundbreaking research and development of new techniques is another strength of the hospital, owing to close interaction between its medical and surgical departments and the university faculties of VUB.

Department of Orthopaedics
The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology consists of 58 adult and 6 paediatric orthopaedic beds and performs approximately 4 500 surgeries per year. The department is growing steadily and includes a staff of orthopaedic surgeons, five trainees and a data nurse.

Two surgeons perform some 200 hip and 80 knee replacements a year, including primary as well as revision surgery for aseptic loosening or infection. Surgeons in training are afforded valuable opportunities to receive hands-on experience of all aspects of hip and knee arthroplasty surgery. Emphasis is put on proper pre-operative planning, implant selection, careful soft tissue handling, bone preparation and cementing technique.