Professor Milomir Ninković spent 20 years as Head of the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive, Hand Surgery and Burn Treatment at Bogenhausen Hospital in Munich, one of the largest plastic surgery departments in Germany. In February 2024, he joined the team at IMC Priora in Čepin, where he leads the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive, Aesthetic, and Hand Surgery.
At the International Medical Center Priora in Čepin near Osijek, Prof. Milomir Ninković, MD, PhD, one of the world’s leading plastic surgeons, successfully operated on Patrick Lofstrom, who traveled to Priora from distant Japan due to a diagnosis of foot drop. For eight years, Patrick had been unable to move his ankle and relied on an orthotic device. In this technically demanding procedure to restore foot function, Prof. Ninković used a muscle transfer technique he developed three decades ago, which remains a global standard today.
Foot Drop Surgery in Čepin
“The gastrocnemius muscle on the back of the lower leg has two heads, and the essence of my procedure is the transfer of a nerve and one head of this muscle. The lateral head of the gastrocnemius is moved to the front of the lower leg and fixed to the tendons of the anterior muscles that lift the foot. At the same time, we perform a nerve transfer by connecting the nerve that innervates a specific group of muscles on the front of the lower leg to the motor branch of the transferred muscle. The transposed muscle contracts and pulls the tendons of the anterior muscles, thereby lifting the foot. The advantage of this method is that the nerve supplying the anterior muscles is connected to the nerve of the transferred muscle, restoring the anatomical balance between the front and back muscle groups of the lower leg and enabling patients to walk naturally without limitations,” explained Prof. Ninković, who has performed more than one hundred such procedures.
The surgery is performed using a microscope and is a highly demanding procedure that lasts on average four hours.
Prof. Ninković’s Method Restores Foot Function
Professor Ninković introduced this surgical technique back in 1989, shortly after completing his specialization, and today it is used worldwide. It has been adopted by plastic surgeons, orthopedists, and neurosurgeons alike. This was pioneering work in nerve transfer aimed at restoring lost muscle function, and today it represents a widely used reconstructive principle, particularly in upper extremities.
In cases of foot drop, postoperative recovery lasts six weeks, followed by rehabilitation. Full functional recovery is achieved within six months, when nerves regenerate and muscle function is restored. At that point, Patrick Lofstrom will regain the quality of life he lost at the age of just 33.
“There are not many doctors in the world who perform the procedure I needed. In Japan, they perform tendon transfer, but that operation would not have helped me. It requires certain preconditions, such as sufficient muscle strength in the leg, which I did not have. Professor Ninković’s method, on the other hand, uses a different muscle, which in my case is very strong, making this procedure more suitable for me. When I researched this method, I learned that he was the one who developed it, which motivated me to contact him. He was very approachable and told me I was an ideal candidate for the surgery, so I decided to come to Čepin. This was also my first visit to Croatia, specifically because of Prof. Ninković,” said 41-year-old Patrick Lofstrom.
Professor Milomir Ninković spent two decades leading the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive, Hand Surgery and Burn Treatment at Bogenhausen Hospital in Munich, one of the largest plastic surgery departments in Germany. In February 2024, he joined IMC Priora in Čepin, where he now leads the Department of Plastic, Reconstructive, Aesthetic and Hand Surgery. Although many of his patients had never heard of Čepin before, they now come from countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the United States, Canada, as well as closer European countries including Germany, Austria, Italy, and Poland.
