About us
The orthopaedic department of Peking University Third Hospital (PUTH) was founded in 1958. Over the past 55 years, it has grown to become a leading orthopaedic centre in China thanks to the innovation and hard work of several generations of experts.
Led by Prof. Keqin Yang, the department pioneered in carrying out surgery for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation and cervical spondylosis since last century from the early 50s till late 60s. At the time when spine surgery in China was in its infancy, it was undoubtedly a courageous attempt. It was for its outstanding achievement in the surgical treatment of cervical spondylosis that the department earned a reputation nationwide and made a monumental contribution to the development of spine surgery in China. Through the 60s and 70s, the department kept on making progress on the subject of cervical spondylosis both clinically and academically, and published the country’s first monograph on cervical spondylosis. In the mean time, it grew with more experience in handling familiar orthopaedic diseases such as lumbar and joint disorders. All these were attributable to the senior experts of the department as represented by Prof. Keqin Yang, Prof. Fangchun Dong and Prof.Tancheng Zhang, whose contribution was indispensible to the establishment and development of orthopaedic surgery in China.
In the mid-80s, Prof. Zhihu Zhang succeeded as the head of the department. He led the department to further clinical and academic success in the field of spine surgery as well as joint replacement surgery, making the department one of the earliest to embark on artificial joint replacement surgery and associated animal studies.
Since the 90s, the department began to pick up its pace of progression under the direction of Prof. Gengting Dang. Working in close coordination with Prof. Qinlin Cai, Prof. Huafu Yin and Prof. Siquan Lou, he divided the department into 4 specialised teams i.e. cervical spine group, lumbar spine group, general spine group and joint group so that our services were expanded to include all aspects of spine and joint surgery. Not long after that, trauma and atlantoaxial group were founded. Establishment of the specialised groups allowed the department to promote its expertise in many fields like degenerative diseases, tumors, deformities and trauma of the spine as well as other bone and joint disorders such as senile osteoarthropathy, at an unprecedented speed. Today, we have become one of the best medical centres for orthopaedics in China, and the strategy to set up specialised groups has been widely recognized and imitated among peers in the nation.
Entering the 21st century, the department grows even stronger under the leadership of the current head of the department, Prof. Zhongjun Liu. With assistance of two generations of experts, he is leading the department to more glory. Today, our expertise is becoming broader than ever, spanning from various forms of degenerative diseases of the spine, deformities of the atlantoaxial joint and the thoracolumbar spine, spine tumors, senile osteoarthropathy to severe trauma and beyond. Among the services we provide, the treatments of cervical spondylosis, deformities of atlantoaxial joint and thoracolumbar spine are truly state-of-art, even by the international standard. Academically, the department has also been fruitful by gaining ground in many of our research projects such as researches in bone union, bone tissue engineering, osteoporosis, senile osteoarthropathy, chronic compression induced cervical myelopathy, heterotopic ossification of the thoracic spine, spinal cord injury and etc. Over the decade, the department has received many prizes including the first prize of the Beijing City Science and Technology Progress Award 2001 and the second prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award 2002 for the project ‘The serial studies of diagnosis and treatment of cervical spondylosis.’; the first prize of the Ministry of Education Science and Technology Progress Award 2004 for the project ‘The study of treatment of spinal cord injury without fracture and dislocation.’; the second prize of the Chinese Medical Association Science and Technology Progress Award 2006 for ‘Laboratory study of molecular mechanism and genetic treatment of osteoarthropathy.’; the title of ‘Team of innovation 2007’ granted by the Ministry of Education; the title of ‘Key disciplinary field of the nation 2010’; the second prize of the Ministry of Education Science and Technology Progress Award 2011 for the project ‘The studies of diagnosis and treatment of spinal tumors.’; the second prize of the Beijing City Science and Technology Progress Award 2012 for the project ‘The establishment and application of the key diagnostic and treating techniques for thoracic canal stenosis.’.
As the department has always taken clinical training seriously, it now has a wealth of home-grown talent. Our tradition of talent cultivation can be traced back to the time when the department was founded. In preparation for the rise in the future, the department seized the opportunity to send young talents to study abroad since the early 80s when China opened up to the world. A rich reserve of talents was formed thereafter to bring the department with success in return. In addition to the opportunity of studying abroad, our training plan also allowed trainees to put their learning into practice under the supervision of their senior surgeons. The result is a strong team of 60 specialists, over 80% of whom has PhD degree, 38 are senior consultants. The number of our experts in charge of national and international academic organizations tops the list in China. It all started from Prof. Keqin Young who was once elected vice chairman of the Chinese Orthopaedic Association (COA); Prof. Gengting Dang went on to become the chairman of COA and editor-in-chief of the Chinese Orthopaedic Journal from 1992 until 2000, he also took the post as the chairman of Chinese Orthopaedic Surgeon Association and the vice editor-in-chief of the Chinese Surgery Journal; Prof. Qinlin Cai was elected chief director of the Spinal Cord Trauma Committee of Chinese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine and vice editor-in-chief of the Chinese Journal of Spine and Spinal Cord; Prof. Siquan Lou was elected chief director of the Cervical Spine Committee of Chinese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine and vice editor-in-chief of the Chinese Bone and Joint Surgery; Prof. Zhongqiang Chen is currently the vice chairman of COA, vice director of the Spine Committee of the COA, vice chief director of the Spine Committee, Beijing division of the Chinese Medical Association (CMA), vice chairman and consultant of the Association for Pharmaceutical and Health Exchanges Across the Taiwan Straits; Prof. Zhongjun Liu is currently the chairman of the Association of AOSpine International, Chapter China, vice chief director of the Spinal Cord Trauma Committee of Chinese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine and vice chairman of the Orthopaedic Committee of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association; Prof. Xiaoguang Liu is the chief director of the Cervical Spine Committee of Chinese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine, vice chairman of the Chinese Spine and Spinal Cord Injury Society, Minimally Invasive Technique Association, vice chairman of the Chinese Medical Association, Young Orthopaedic Surgeon Committee, vice chairman of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association, emergency section; vice chairman of the Orthopaedic Committee of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, and vice chairman of Orthopaedic Committee of Chinese and Western Medicine Society; Prof. Ke Zhang is vice chairman of the Spine and Joint Committee of the Gerontological Society of China; Prof. Yu Sun is the vice chairman of the Spine Committee and Spinal Cord Trauma Committee of Chinese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine; Prof. Fang Zhou is vice chairman of the Trauma Committee of Chinese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine.
The department is always aiming at innovation on the basis of scientific research and technological development. Over the years, it has been among our priorities to tackle the unsolved clinical problems with advanced ideals and cutting edge techniques. Historically, the department pioneered many surgical techniques. We were the first in China to perform anterior cervical discectomy and fusion, posterior cervical bilateral and unilateral open-door laminectomy, anterior cervical interlocking plate fixation, internal fusion of the thoracolumbar spine by anterolateral approach, percutaneous laser disc decompression, total spondylectomy, anterior distraction + posterior vertebral osteotomy for the correction of severe kyphotic deformity and transoral anterior atlantoaxial release with posterior internal fixation for the reduction of atlantoaxial dislocation. We were also among the first to carry out total hip and knee replacement as well as other procedures such as revision arthroplasty with impaction bone grafting technique and etc. All these techniques came from our innovative concept and design. At present, the department is carrying out over 7000 surgery every year with the number outpatients and emergency exceeding 100,000 and 20,000 respective. Academically, the department has nearly 30 ongoing projects funded by the National Natural Fund, the Ministry of Health Key Project Fund, the Ministry of National Science and Technology 863 Project, Beijing City Committee of Science and Technology Fund Project, the National 985 Project Fund and etc. Up to date, there have been over 700 articles, 50 of which in the Science Citation Index cited journals, and more than 10 books published by the department. The department currently has 5 doctoral supervisors and 19 supervisors for master students. It has produced 4 postdoctors, 74 Ph.D. students and 90 master degree students. Every year, the department is hosting long or short term training courses and the total number of visiting scholars is reaching 3000.
The department lays great stress on academic communication, domestically or internationally. Our involvement in international communication started since as early as late 70s when the country was opening up to the world. During the latest two decades, the department has gradually become academically influential by frequently hosting national or international symposium. In 2001, AOSpine International Association designated the department as its training centre for spine surgery, marking a new phase in our acquirement for international recognization. More recently, the department is quickening its pace in international communication. Our voice are heard in the international conferences more often than ever; many of us have become members of lecture groups of international medical organisations and tour around the world. As our staffs going abroad to study, foreign visitors begin to come to visit us. So far, we have received visitors from UK, US, Germany, Japan and Malaysia. As international communication booms, the world is becoming ever so close, and so is our target to create a world class orthopaedic department.
The department is often likened to a big family full of love. For 55 years, our team has kept advancing with solidarity and coordination. Mutual respect, cooperation, agree to disagree is our principle in dealing with interpersonal relationship. More recently, the department is putting more emphasis on cultural construction in the belief that it would bring unity and cohesion to our organization. In attempt to provide staffs with proper ideological and moral education, the department routinely organizes community activities such as voluntary consultations, home visit, tree planting and etc. Social activities provide chances for us to communicate with each other, which help to form a bond among team members and create a relaxing atmosphere in the department. Prizes and honor won in these events also bring us with a sense of pride and protagonist.
As the department grows, it never ceased to contributing to the PUTH and the society as whole. Prof. Keqin Yang and Prof. Qinlin Cai both used to be vice chairman of the PUTH, so did Prof. Gengting Dang who also served as acting chairman once. Later on, Prof. Zhongqiang Chen also took the post as chairman of the PUTH. The tradition is now passed on to Prof. Xiaoguang Liu, who is currently vice chairman of the PUTH. The department is also keen to serve the society. Prof. Zhongqiang Chen has been elected deputy of the National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference for 3 consecutive terms and Prof. Zhongjun Liu has been elected deputy of the National People's Congress of the People’s Republic of China for 2 consecutive terms. Throughout the major national disasters of the recent years, the department is always there when needed. During the fight against the SARS in 2003, earthquake of Wenchuan and Yushu in 2008 and 2011, let along the latest earthquake of Yaan in 2013, we are on the frontline all the time to save lives and support the community in our own way.
Fifty five years of endeavor has made the department grown up. We are determined to carry forward the brilliant feat achieved by our predecessors. Our motto is: ‘To be sound in morality and skillful, to be honest and innovative’. Our wish is: to be trusted by patients, recognized by peers and appraised by society. Our objective is: to create a world class orthopaedic department and to show the world our pride and courage.