Department of Surgical Oncology, Faculty of Medicine of Comenius University, St. Elisabeth´s Cancer Institute

The Oncological Surgery Clinic is mainly focused on the surgical treatment of solid tumors. Modernly equipped operating tract and staffing allow surgical treatment of tumors at a high level. We conducted each year around 1700-1800 operations. The clinic is currently focused mainly on the treatment of tumors of the gastrointestinal tract, breast and thyroid gland. It provides a radical surgical treatment of tumors in hepatobiliary tract and pancreas, stomach, the entire treatment of tumors of the colon and rectum, small intestine, adrenal gland and retroperitoneum. The clinic is traditional and known surgical treatment of mammary tumors, the thyroid gland and skin. The operating theater uses the latest technology such as gammadetector, monitoring of the RLN, intraoperative ultrasound, or radio-frequency method of destruction of malignant tissue as well as laparoscopic methods of treatment of malignant and non-malignant diseases of the digestive tract and adrenal glands.

The clinic runs undergraduate teaching students of Faculty of Medicine. It acts as a training center for PhD students of the Faculty of Medicine. Clinic offers students direct contacts with patients, not only by bed but also in the operating room. The clinic is a training center also at doctoral studies at the Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava. We also carry out forensic activities in the field of surgery.

At present in clinics to address these scientific research projects:

1. The significance of sentinel node mapping in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.

2. Importance of sentinel node mapping in the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid cancer and the importance of neck dissection in the treatment of thyroid cancer.

3. The effect of probiotics on the healing of anastomosis of the gastrointestinal tract.

4. Impact modified D2 lymphadenectomy on survival of patients with gastric cancer.

5. Laparoscopic adrenalectomy for hormonally active tumors.

6. Predictive factors of non-sentinel nodes involvement in patients with breast cancer and clinically negative axillary lymph nodes.

The current St. Elisabeth`s Hospital was built in 1738. The surgery department at the St. Elisabeth`s Oncological Institute was founded in 1941 when the St. Elisabeth`s Hospital was transformed to the National Cancer Institute under the guidance of prof. Thurzo. Proper surgical department was constituted in 1946 as part of the Institute for research and treatment of cancer. The head physician of this surgical department became the disciple of prof. Kostlivý – Assoc. Prof. Vojtech Bruoth, MD. Associate Professor Bruoth was the first surgeon in this hospital that created separate operating and surgical department. He focused on the operations of oncological nature.

In 1955 Prof. Milan Kratochvíl DrSc. MD. became the head physician of the department. At the time of his tenure at the department they already made difficult chest operations as oesophagectomy with its  substitution and lung resection.

In 1960 MD. PhD. Tibor Tesárek, MD. PhD. became the head physician of the department, who was a pupil of the head physician Kauzál from Žilina. In practice, the department continues to dominate the operations on the digestive tract, thyroid surgery and surgery of malignant breast tumors. In 1964 opens a new building in oncology institute with a new surgical wards on Heydukova Street and since 1966, the institute called the Institute for Oncology in Slovakia.

In 1984 Anton Godál, MD., PhD., the pupil of the head physician Tesárek took charge of the surgical department. He continued to work to the extent similar to its predecessor. Together with the future head physician Knotek was a co-creator of a detector used in re-operations of the thyroid gland. In 1991 an extension department was found of a National Cancer Institute in Kramáre and a part of the staff of the surgical department of Heydukova Street passed there. Since 1992, the institute was renamed the Institute of Clinical Oncology.

In 1993 Jozef Knotek, MD. was appointed head physician of the surgical department, continuing the tradition of his predecessors, developed a new technique of surgery for malignant goitre. He also introduced new modern surgery of the digestive tract.

On 1 January 1995, the workplace on Heydukova Street privatized and returned to the original owner and operator, procession of St. Elisabeth and becomes a private health facility and bears the name of St. Elisabeth`s Oncological Institute, Ltd.

In April 2005 the Department of Surgery transformed into a Oncological Surgery Clinic of the Facutly of Medicine, Comenius Universtiy. The first superintendent became on 1 April 2005 Assoc. Prof. Ján Škultéty, MD., PhD.

From 15 September 2006, the head physician of the clinic was Assoc. Prof. Vladimír Straka, MD., PhD., former head of the Department of Surgery in Martin, concentrated mainly on hepato-biliary and pancreatic surgery.

In September 2007, the department head to the post later appointed professor of surgery, Assoc. Prof. Štefan Durdík, MD., PhD.

After Assoc. Prof. Straka, Martin Sabol, MD., PhD. was in the year 2011 appointed head physician who consolidated the power range of hepato-pancreato-biliary and colorectal surgery

Department of Oncological Surgery FMCM & St. Elisabeth´s Cancer Institute
Heydukova 2157/10, 812 50 Bratislava

web: www.ousa.sk

Map:https://goo.gl/maps/lI66j