The Ulm University Hospital is the most recent university clinic in Baden-Württemberg. In the 38 years of its history, it has established itself as a centre for health care, research and university education. Today it is an integral part of the medical and scientific map of the region and the country. The clinic is ISO 9001 certified and accredited by the German Cancer Society DKG.
The clinic has 29 departments, 15 institutes and more than 1,100 beds. About 6,000 employees work here. Every year the hospital treats about 50,000 inpatients and 300,000 outpatients.
In 2012, the Clinic of Ulm opened modern departments of surgery and dermatology. Also, the largest obstetrics department in Germany is located there. In 2019, the doctors of the hospital have delivered 3,247 births. The FOCUS magazine listed the University Clinic of Ulm among the best medical institutions in Germany for 2020. Out of 1,400 contenders, the Hospital Ulm is ranked 21st. Focus Ranking has identified 16 areas in which the clinic has achieved the best results. These are the ones in which it has achieved the best results:
During inpatient treatment at the Ulm Hospital, patients are placed in single and double wards. The rooms are equipped with all necessary furniture, a TV and a bathroom. Wi-Fi is available for an additional fee. Patients are allowed to bring a companion, who will be provided with a place in the ward and meals during their stay. Patients can also apply for treatment by the head doctor of any department. This is particularly important in critical cases where the participation of specialists with extensive experience and higher qualifications is important.
The Department of Cardiology is the German leader in catheter therapy for cardiac valves. Doctors at the Ulm Clinic actively use the TAVI technique for aortic valve replacement, as it reduces the risk of complications and increases survival rates. Before the procedure, doctors thoroughly examine the patient and the intervention is performed in a hybrid operating room.
Interesting fact: The clinic eliminated tricuspid valve insufficiency in an elderly person by a minimally invasive operation. The patient was 82-year-old Jurgen Klin. At this age, there is a high surgical risk. Therefore, the main method of treating insufficiency in elderly people is medication therapy. A new method of cardiologists at the University Clinic of Ulm allows to quickly restore an airtight heart valve with the help of a special cardioband. Patients feel the improvement on the next day after the operation. More than 150 patients with tricuspid valve insufficiency have already received such treatment.
If the patient is suspected to have vascular disease (arteries or veins), the Ulm Clinic provides diagnostic procedures such as these:
If the suspected vascular disease is confirmed, additional examination methods are available. Further diagnosis is often carried out using catheter methods and in many cases allows targeted therapy. In particular, this includes:
The Comprehensive Cancer Center of Ulm (CCCU) is an integrative cancer centre of a university hospital and medical faculty. It treats patients according to the latest research results. The CCCU is one of the 13 best cancer centres in Germany and is accredited by the German Cancer Society DKG. The centre’s structure includes departments:
The Clinic of Radiation Oncology and Radiation Therapy is the largest radiotherapeutic facility in the Ulm region. Every year about 1,500 patients are treated in the department, of which 85% are outpatients and about 15% are inpatients. The Radiation Therapy Department is equipped with modern technical equipment and provides a full range of radio-oncological services:
| RapidArc Radiation Therapy | The procedure is ahead of all similar devices due to the more directed action on tumour tissues. During the procedure, the device can rotate around the patient by 360 degrees. At the same time, the device has a variable radiation dose, which is selected for each tumour field separately. The procedure has a shorter radiation time. For example, in the treatment of prostate cancer, the duration of exposure is about 2 minutes, which is 70% quicker than other IMRT devices. This method of radiation therapy is used to treat various cancers, including head and neck cancers, as well as tumours with a complex location. |
| Brachytherapy | It is a special form of tumour irradiation with small radiation sources. During the procedure, the doctor uses various applicators to put the radioactive source into or near the tumour. Since the applicator with the radioactive source is very close to the focus, healthy tissue is not damaged and the tumour area receives the maximum dose. Both intra-cavity and interstitial brachytherapy are available in the Ulm Hospital. |
| Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRC) | This technology allows large doses of radiation to be delivered directly to the tumour tissue. Doctors at the Ulm Hospital use the unit to treat neural malignancies. For example, they treat tumours or metastases in the brain. |
| IORT or intraoperative radiotherapy | Allows the radiation to be directed to the target area without affecting the surrounding tissue. IORT is used to treat cancers that are difficult to remove during surgery. Most often, doctors use IORT for breast cancer therapy in the Ulm Clinic. During the operation, after removal of the tumour, doctors determine the amount of radiation. Then, a special «tube» is attached to the radiation device, which precisely determines the tumour place in the wound cavity. After irradiation, the doctor sews up the incision and performs breast reconstruction. IORT allows using more effective doses of radiation in comparison with conventional radiation therapy. |
The Department of Neurosurgery at the University Hospital of Ulm is one of the largest in Germany. It provides a full range of surgical services for the treatment of tumours in children and adults.
In addition to this, doctors are also involved in clinical research to develop new treatments. The most common types of tumours that are treated in the clinic are meningiomas (brain tumours) and gliomas (brain tumours).
The neurosurgery department of the hospital uses modern intraoperative imaging techniques. In this way, doctors can better define the boundaries of the tumour and remove it without affecting the healthy tissue. Simply put, neuronavigation makes it easier to plan and run the operation.
Neurosurgery at the Ulm Clinic uses two different hybrid operating room concepts. They are equipped with a Zeego intraoperative unit for robot-based angiography and an intraoperative MRI with a strong 1.5 Tesla field, Brainsuite.
Ophthalmologists at the University Clinic of Ulm treat all diseases of the anterior (eyelids, cornea, lens) and posterior (retina, vascular envelope, optic nerve head) segment of the eye. The Ophthalmology Department is ISO 9001 certified, which indicates the maintenance of the high quality of medical services for patients.
One of the main directions of the Ophthalmology Department is corneal or keratoplasty transplantation. Thanks to the corneal bank, doctors promptly help each of the patients who need keratoplasty. Besides, the Ophthalmology Department conducts:
The clinic uses femtosecond laser LenSx for cataract treatment. The doctors use it to perform more gentle operations than other types of lasers. Thanks to this laser, the doctor makes incisions to the nearest thousandth of a millimetre. Cataract femtosecond removal (FLACS) is a less traumatic treatment option compared to the classical surgical method.
Another focus of ophthalmologists at the Clinic of Ulm is the detection and treatment of childhood visual pathologies. Most often, doctors treat all forms of strabismus, amblyopia, eyeball diseases, nystagmus and eye lesions due to neurological diseases.
| Procedure | Cost |
| Consultation with a specialist | from €500 |
| Lab tests | from €350 |
| Mammary gland ultrasound | from €350 |
| MRI | from €1,000 |
| PET-CT | from €1,500 |
| Chemotherapy | from €2,500 per session |
| Radiation therapy | from €6,000 per course |
| Procedure | Cost |
| Immunotherapy | from €6,000 |
| Mastectomy | from €13,000 |
| Knee arthroscopy | from €7,000 |
| Shoulder replacement | from €11,000 |
| Hip arthroplasty | from €18,000 |
| Knee replacement | from €19,000 |
| Surgical tumour removal | from €20,000 |
