Internal Medicine
Internal medicine is the "Mother of Medicine" and deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all acute and chronic diseases of internal organs, which includes cardiac and vascular diseases, pulmonary and respiratory diseases, diseases of the liver, the bile duct and the pancreas as well as those of the entire gastro-intestinal tract and of the kidneys.
All metabolic disorders, infectious diseases, poisonings and nutritional disorders are also part of the therapeutical field of internal medicine as are rheumatic diseases, blood diseases and hormone disorders. In all unclear conditions, the advice and action of the internal specialist are required.
The most modern and highly-sensitive appliances are available in our specialised department for diagnosis and treatment. We are able to gently examine the heart and vessels, abdominal organs, the urinary tracts and the thyroid gland by ultrasound. Imaging means are applied to examine the gastro-intestinal tract, the bronchial system and the urinary bladder.

We also carry out cardio-vascular gastro-intestinal exercise tests, pulmonary function studies and function tests of endocrine glands.
In addition, we have the possibility of checking whether the patient needs a pacemaker, which a specialised team in our hospital can place immediately, if and when required.

The diverse diagnostic and therapeutical possibilities, however, are only one side of our efforts to restore and maintain your health. The medically competent nursing care geared towards the patient is just as important.
Our doctors as well as the nursing staff in particular will try to earn this confidence around the clock so that you are not only looked after well from a medical point of view, but also feel secure.

Surgery
Apart from injuries the wide medical field of surgery also deals with various kinds of diseases, which can be treated by surgery.
On account of the continuous further development in surgery, various sub-fields have been created. Today, the surgical departments in our hospitals are divided up as follows:

General Surgery (laparoceles or diseases of the skin and of the soft tissue, for example).

Visceral Surgery (operations on the abdominal organs, the thyroid gland, the inflammatory intestinal diseases, such as Crohn's disease and colitis ulcerosa, etc.).

Oncosurgery (operative treatment of tumour diseases in any location). Traumatology (treatment of injuries of the bones and the soft tissue as well as the thoracic and abdominal cavities).

Vascular Surgery (varicose vein treatments, bypass operation to improve the circulation, embolectomies, etc.). For quite a number of years already, our surgical departments have made use  of the possibilities of minimal invasive surgery ("button-hole" or laparoscopic surgery).

Here, miniature instruments and lens system are passed through a very small cut into the inside of the body, all of which can be followed on a monitor. In this way, we can remove the gall bladder, the appendix and parts of the colon, enteron and rectum. Moreover, the operative treatment of inguinal hernias as well as the fundoplication in case of reflux disease (heartburn) are possible by this safe and gentle method.
For you as a patient, minimal surgical interventions means less strain and a shorter stay in hospital.
Some smaller interventions can be carried out in our out-patient department. In this case, however, some prerequisites have to be met. In this respect, please talk to your attending doctor; he will be pleased to inform you in detail about the possibilities and limitations of an out-patient intervention.

Gynaecology and Obstetrics
In our department we carry out all conservative and surgical treatments in gynaecology, which includes the benign and malignant diseases of the breast and of the female small pelvis. One of our specialities is gentle surgical intervention through the vagina. In this way almost all benign diseases of the small pelvis (lowering of the genital organs, urinary incontinence, etc.) can be operated on.

We also use diagnostic and surgical laparoscopy (abdominoscopy) and hysteroscopy (endoscopy of the uterine cavity) as minimal invasive procedures. Under certain conditions, some of these interventions can be carried out in the out-patient department.
Our new 3D ultrasound system permits a three-dimensional representation of the organs in the small pelvis as well as of breast tumours. By means of this system, stereotactic interventions, such as breast biopsies, can be carried out very precisely.

In obstetrics, this 3D system is used very diversely for pre-natal diagnosis. By means of the colour Doppler function we measure the flow of blood to the placenta and in important vessels of the child. The three-dimensional representation of the baby's face is especially impressive.
Almost the complete pre-natal diagnosis, such as fine ultrasonic diagnosis, amniotic fluid aspiration, chorionic villi biopsies as well as high-speed punch biopsies of the breast are carried out in our out-patient department.

The obstetrical field is geared to an individual family-oriented care whereby the safety of mother and child has top priority. The efforts of doctors, midwives and nurses are directed to assist the natural course of birth. A homely-equipped delivery room as well as a room for delivery in water offer all conditions to ease the delivery and to make it a good experience. If requested, partial or complete rooming-in is possible. A special breast-feed room as well as the infant room facilitate the first days after the delivery.

Anaesthesia and Intensive Treatment
Anaesthesia has the task of allowing the painless performance of surgery. Local anaesthesia, in which a certain only part of the body is numbed, as well as general anaesthesia is applied. The anaesthesia is carried out by specially-trained doctors in a team with experienced anaesthetist nurses.
Modern anaesthesia techniques and a well-trained team are the pre-conditions for safe and well tolerated anaesthesia. All our anaesthetic procedures meet the highest of safety standards.

In a preparatory conversation the anaesthetist will ask some questions about your previous illnesses and complaints and will suggest a suitable anaesthetic procedure. Of course, you have the opportunity to ask questions or to express any requests. Please do not hesitate to make use of this opportunity and to only give your consent afterwards. In the recovery room after surgery our patients are continuously monitored and provided with pain killers under supervision of the anaesthetist until they are returned to their  normal ward.

All in all anaesthesia has become very safe for the patient so that we can concentrate increasingly on good tolerability, absence of pain, fast mobilisation and return to normal diet.

Intensive treatment is used when, after larger operations or in case of severe illnesses, a close-meshed monitoring is required or the treatment has to be continued with technical appliances which are not available in the normal ward.
In the intensive care ward, an experienced team ensures the medical and nursing care of the patient around the clock; this care may be very time-consuming and complicated. In order to ensure the rest needed, special visiting rules apply here.

Orthopaedics (General Practitioners' Department)
Orthopaedics deals with the treatment of diseases of the locomotor apparatus, which ranges from congenital malformations of the bones, joints and the surrounding soft tissue to the acquired changes, such as bone fractures or wear diseases.
Apart from restorative surgery on joints, bones and soft tissue, our orthopaedic general practitioners' department concentrates on the prosthetic management of hip and knee joints.
A large part of orthopaedics is taken by the arthroscopic treatment of knee and shoulder joints as well as of ankle joints under special conditions. As a rule injuries of the meniscus, ligament or cartilage can be safely diagnosed by endoscopic means and can be subjected to an arthroscopic or open intervention.
The special foot surgery extends the surgical offer of our department. Apart from correcting foot deformities, painful toe joints are replaced by prostheses here as well.
The conservative (non-surgical) treatment of acute pain syndromes or inflammatory diseases of the spinal column as well as the treatment of entrapment neuropathy, for example, rounds off the performance range of the orthopaedic department.
After the operation many patients need physiotherapy, which already starts in the hospital in close co-operation with the physiotherapeutical department. After discharge, the treatment can be continued here, of course.