Historical Development of the Prosthetics-Orthotics Field In Turkey
The first development in the field of orthotics in Turkiye coincides with the period of Abdulhamid II in the Ottoman Empire. In 1898, Bonn University Surgery Prof Dr.Robert Rieder Pasha was brought to Istanbul to reform Turkish Medical Education and to control the newly constructed Medical School (Gülhane) building in Haydarpaşa. Rieder Pasha, who came for three years, fell during the construction audit at Haydarpaşa Medical School and broke his back and leg, and workshops began in line with the need for an orthosis. The structuring in the field of prosthesis develops upon the need for three consecutive amputations and prostheses to the leg of Sadettin Pasha, the Finance Minister of Abdulhamid II. For this purpose, four military officers were sent to Paris to learn prosthetics and orthotics for a year. The first prosthesis atelier, Tersane-i Alatı Nazikiye, was established under the leadership of Captain Hüseyin Rıfat Bey, who returned to the country, and this atelier was transferred to Gülhane Hospital in 1914.
Loss of the limbs in the Trablous, Çanakkale, and Arabian fronts in the First World War played an important role in the development of prosthetic-orthotics studies. Naval officer Kazım Elgün was sent to Lorenz in Vienna for four years by Hilal-i Ahmer (Turk Kızılay) and when he returned, he gave great services in prosthetics together with Besim Ömer Akalın Pasha.
The first private structuring was by Kifidis. Kifidis, educated in Paris, opened a private prosthetics-orthotics atelier in Beyoğlu in 1928.
Information about the emergence of mechanical orthopedics in our country was obtained from Professor Alpsoy’s book Artificial Limbs and Orthopedic Devices, which is the first Turkish source in the field of Prosthetics-Orthotics , published in 1951, and Professor Ege’s manuscripts in this field.
The first studies in the field of prosthesis-orthotics in Ankara were carried out by the Head of Pediatric Surgery and Orthopedics Clinic at that time, Prof.Dr. Avni Duraman starts with his efforts. Gerbert, a German technician, pioneers the establishment of a workshop with Fuat Çelik, a technical school graduate who started working at Ankara University in 1948.
By the way, in the same year, German technician Hans Press also established a prosthetics-orthotics atelier at Istanbul Medical Faculty, and then German technicians such as Nobe and Ziebel took part in this atelier. In the atelier established at Ankara University in 1955, technical staff such as Ahmet Yertut were educated. Yertut transferred to the Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine Orthopedics Clinic in 1957 and supported the ateliers there.
At Hacettepe University School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, which was founded in Ankara by Prof Dr. İhsan Doğramacı in 1961, a Prosthetics-Orthotics and Biomechanics Atelier and Unit was established in 1965 for the implementation of Prosthetics-Orthotics and Rehabilitation. In the establishment and development of this atelier, Dr. Necdet Güçlü, Prof. Dr. Rıdvan Özker, Prof. Dr. Hidayet Erdem, Prof. Dr. Sabri Narman and Prof. Dr. Candan Algun have made valuable contributions and studies. Since 1988, Prof Dr. Gül Şener and Prof Dr. Fatma Uygur have made significant contributions to the development of the Prosthesis-Orthosis Unit with projects.
When Gülhane Orthopedics and Traumatology Clinic was established in 1961, a group of technicians and orthopedics and traumatology specialists were sent to Rizzoli Institute in Italy on a rotating basis. This educating program continued until 1966 and Gülhane Prosthetics-Orthotics Atelier was put into service as a small unit after all these efforts and was developed with the contributions of Dr. Sabri Ateşalp, who was sent to America in 1996.
With the contributions of our public who provided financial support to the campaign started in 1995, the 300-bed Turkish Armed Forces Rehabilitation and Care Center was opened in Ankara in 2000 to provide rehabilitation services. This center included many rehabilitation units as well as a 500-square-meter prosthesis-orthotics unit.
In 1984, Prof. Dr. Halit Özyalçın from Ege University Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology joined prosthetics-orthotics courses at Glasgow Strathclyde University and opened a workshop at Ege University Faculty of Medicine when he returned.
In 1985, Orthopedics Technician Health Vocational High School was opened in Bakırköy, within the scope of the German Government technical cooperation agreement, and within the GTZ Project.
In 1993, with the efforts of Prof Dr. İlksen Turhanoğlu, Director of Ankara University Health Services Vocational School, and the leadership of Prof Dr. Hidayet Erdem, who contributed to the development of many technicians, physiotherapists, and physicians in this field, and the studies of Prof Dr. Serap Alsancak, Prosthetics-Orthotics Laboratory was established in the vocational school. In the Keçiören campus, where the School was moved, laboratory studies were accelerated and in 2007, with the efforts of Prof Dr. Serap Alsancak and lecturer MSc.Mech.Eng. Haydar Altınkaynak, a prosthetic-orthotics laboratory at European standards was put into service to meet the needs of prosthetic-orthotic technicians and model patients.
Simultaneously, the study of non-governmental organizations in the field of prosthesis-orthotics was started in our country. Turkish Prosthetics and Orthotics Science Association (TPOBD) was established in Ankara in December 1998 in order to contribute to science and technologies that will make life easier for people with disabilities. Prof.Dr. Hidayet Erdem, Prof. Dr. Gül Şener and Prof.Dr. Serap Alsancak presided and rendered valuable services. In addition, the Orthotics Prosthetics Association, which is more of a professional association and was founded in 1992, and the Association of Prosthetics-Orthotics Technicians founded in 1994 and other associations also added to them in recent years.
The studies of TPOBD and the National ISPO Committee, Prof. Dr. Serap Alsancak, Prof.Dr. Sabri Ateşalp, Prof. Dr. Kamil Yazicioglu, Assoc. Dr. Kezban Bayramlar, Engineer Haydar Altınkaynak, Engineer İlhan Şahin, Prosthesis-Orthotics Technician Ahmet Pürgü and Dr. It is run by Evren Erdem.
National Prosthetic-Orthotics Congresses were organized in Turkey in 1994, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2007, and many local and foreign scientists participated in these congresses. Two of these congresses were organized together with ISPO. The speeches of the congresses organized were collected in 5 books. In the meantime, a prosthetic-orthotics terminology booklet was created, a bulletin was published and a contribution was made to the Prosthetics-Orthotics Terminology Dictionary created by ISPO and its Turkish translation was made.
The Republic of Turkiye is advancing rapidly in this field with its Prosthetics-Orthotics Centers in the state and private sector, companies producing prosthetics-orthotics components, and professionals serving approximately eight million orthopedically disabled people.