This well-known Zagreb-based health care institution started the Dalmacija project several years ago, at the invitation of the current owners of Marin Med Clinic from Dubrovnik. The collaboration expanded quickly, so even a large number of people from Montenegro gravitate towards them.
The team from Aksis has been coming to Split’s Polyclinic Ljutić for six years in order to be closer to their patients for examinations. “I love Split and Dubrovnik and we bring there what was not available to them,” says Asst. Prof. Mladen Miškulin, PhD, and points out:
Aksis is specific in that we perform many procedures on an outpatient basis and in a one-day regimen. Also, after major surgery, our goal is for patients to stay in the hospital as short as possible and to return to their activities as soon as possible. We perform procedures using minimally invasive methods, whether it is arthroscopic procedures or joint replacements.
Pain-free life
Following knee, hip and shoulder replacement surgery, patients stay in their hospital for just two to three days. “The first day after surgery, we already get them up on their feet, on the second day they are walking up the stairs with us, and are surprised at how fast their recovery is going and how much progress they have made when compared the experiences of patients from other institutions,” says Asst. Prof. Miškulin.
Everyone wants to live without pain and in the way they lived before the injury, and in most cases we are able to return it to them. Elderly patients, who mostly come due to worn-out hips or knees, often tell me after the artificial joint installation procedure and rehabilitation period: “Doctor, you have given me my life back.” When I see my patient’s satisfaction at being able to do whatever they want, that is my biggest thank you.
Furthermore, Aksis is a leader in the field of reconstruction of damaged shoulder tendons or unstable shoulders. For instance, at the end of the shoulder tendon reconstruction procedure, they apply stem cells to the reconstruction site, which makes them unique in this part of Europe.
“We regularly monitor our patients and test their recovery. Based on our results thus far, we can safely say that our technique not only speeds up the rehabilitation process, but also makes the reconstructed part of the tendon significantly stronger than usual reconstruction methods. In addition to the speed of recovery, this method of treatment greatly reduces the possibility of tendon rupture, which always exists”, says Dr. Miškulin.
A month ago, our interlocutor became the president of the Croatian Academic Water Polo Club Mladost, where he returned the European Cup to Zagreb as a player after a 17-year break.
Namely, in the late 80s and early 90s, with Mladost he won the Cup and the championship of the former Yugoslavia, two Champions Cups, the Super Cup… A lot of trophies. At the time, Mladen Miškulin was a top athlete and a full-time student at the Faculty of Medicine in Zagreb.
“Today when people ask me how I managed it, I say that I don’t even know. I guess it was great discipline but also a lot of sacrifice, because it meant studying on the bus and in hotel rooms, getting up early for practice at 6:30 in the morning, being at the university all day, and then I would go to train in the evening. It wasn’t easy, but I would do it all over again,” he recalls.
After college, he specialized in orthopedics and traumatology at the world’s and Europe’s finest clinic, the Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli in Bologna. He is working on his scientific career, is an assistant professor at the universities of Split and Dubrovnik, and has authored a number of scientific papers.
Monitoring athletes
As a doctor, he monitors many athletes. He spent a number of years in handball, starting with the Croatia women’s national handball team, and continued as the chief physician of the Croatian Handball Federation and a member of the International Handball Federation Medical Commission.
After handball, he went back to his water polo. “It is my distinct honor, pleasure, but also a duty, to be appointed president of the Mladost club, the great sports collective from which I sprang, which was named the best club of the 20th century, with the most trophies. I want to do everything in my power so that Mladost gets back on its feet and becomes a leading club again.”
Finally, Dr. Miškulin emphasized:
We want Croatia to be a healthy nation, and the foundation of a healthy nation is sport from a young age as well as diversity. Not everything can be based on football. There is a variety of other sports that are equally and more successful and healthy. Children in primary school should be encouraged to try water polo, swimming, taekwondo, track and field, table tennis, basketball, handball, hockey…not just football 90% of the time. Because us “minor” sports also exist, and the number of our trophies makes us great.