Key to Success

A two-year-old girl was taken to Orthopedics Department of the Okryu Children’s Hospital in June 2017.

Her name was Kim Su Hyang. Her disease was identified as congenital sprengel’s deformity. Her shoulder was attached to the neck and her head leaned to the left, and it was impossible for her to throw up her arms. The cause of this disease has not yet been confirmed worldwide. Some methods have been developed, and they have been accepted for a patient to go under the knife at the age of 11.

The doctors of the department held several consultations but failed to produce a clear remedy.

At that time, Jong Yong Ho, head of the department, called on them not to be wedded to experience only but to find a new method of their own in the spirit of blazing a trail. If we regard her as our own daughter, nothing will be impossible, he said.

A team for studying advanced data was organized with Kim Jae Song, Yang Won Chol and Ri Hyang Rok. They concentrated their efforts on studying the existing operation methods worldwide and the past experience of surgical operations. In the course of this, they found out a new method good for child growth while reducing the time and bleeding during operation. They conducted scores of trial operations to complete the method of displacing downward the scapula by means of moving the trapezius and major and minor rhomboideus.

Thanks to their devoted efforts and warm care, the operation of Su Hyang was performed successfully.

Her parents said in deep emotion: Looking at the sight of our daughter who is completely restored to health, everything seems like a dream. We thought that she was destined to live deformed. We will never forget the doctors who treated our daughter with parental love and affection.

In a few years since its inauguration, the medical workers of the hospital have brought back to life a large number of children.

They have successfully conducted over 500 rounds of operations for orthopaedics, congenital radioulnar synostosis and congenital dislocation of patella.

Their success was not made in a day.

With the emphasis on the work for improving the abilities of doctors, the department made sure that they closely combined their studies of advanced medical techniques and trial operations with practical treatment in keeping with the developing trend of modern medicine. In the course of exchanging their opinions and experience through regular sci-tech dissemination and seminars, they found out fresh remedies for reducing an operation field or hastening the recovery time without an operation and devised new medical appliances, and introduced them into practice.

The department has produced many persons with academic degrees or titles. It has been awarded several patent rights of the country and highly appreciated at a national exhibition of medical sci-tech achievements.

Today its medical workers are devoting their passion, wisdom and affection for improving the health of children.