ISTITUTO ORTOPEDICO RIZZOLI

The Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute of Bologna, founded in 1896, is an international point of reference in the development of orthopaedic practice. The high-level therapies are the result of ongoing scientific research with transfer of the results into clinical practice. Integration between departments and workshops makes it possible to achieve an overview of the pathologies and to constantly test new treatment options.

Since 1981, Rizzoli has been classified as a Research Hospital, recognised by the ministry of health for its advanced research activities and its impact on the international scene.
As an integral part of the Emilia-Romagna healthcare system, the Rizzoli institute is also a Bologna University teaching hospital.
With its RIT-Research, Innovation and Technology department, it is part of the Tecnopolo of the Regional High-Technology Network: laboratories specialised in technological transfer and research applied to the industrial sector.
The Rizzoli-Sicilia Department of Bagheria (Palermo), created from a memorandum of understanding between the Emilia-Romagna Region and the Sicily Region, has been active since 2012.
The Rizzoli department employs some 1400 people among orthopedicians, anaesthetists, rheumatologists, radiologists, internists, biologists, engineers, biotechnologists, physicists, chemists, statisticians, pharmacists, nurses, physiotherapists, radiology technicians, laboratory technicians, assistance personnel, and technical and administrative staff.
The clinical activity concerns the entire sphere of orthopaedic- traumatological practice. The work is based on clinical and translational research programmes: the hospital and workshops together cover the most innovative sectors of physiology and pathology of the musculoskeletal system.
The Research Approaches assure integration of clinical- scientific translational paths with reference to four areas: Oncology, Regenerative and restorative medicine, Innovative and prosthetic surgery, Inflammatory,
infectious, degenerative, and genetic pathologies.
It hosts the Emilia-Romagna Musculoskeletal Tissue Bank and the Register of Orthopaedic Prosthetic Implantology (RIPO). The institute is a Coordinating Centre of ERN BOND, the European reference network on rare bone disorders.
Regenerative and restorative medicine, stem cells, tissue engineering, 3D design and printing for reconstructions and customized prosthetics, innovative surgical techniques for the most complex procedures, reconstruction of ligaments and cartilage, inflammatory, infectious, degenerative, and genetic pathologies, multispecialist care of bone cancers, and treatment of the most complex paediatric orthopaedic disorders are just some of the sectors in which the Rizzoli Institute is engaged for orthopaedics of the future.