In the picture: Ms. Lo Surdo the day after her surgery in the inpatient ward – together with the nursing staff.

 

 

Recovery and rehabilitation

7. How did you feel in the first hours after the surgery?
   I only took painkillers on two days: the day of the accident and the following day (where I already had the surgery). The only really uncomfortable time was the evening after the operation – even though it was not as bad as I had expected.
8. How far along are you in your recovery?
   At the time of this interview, about nine and a half weeks have passed since the surgery. I’ve been very committed to my recovery, because walking is even more important to me than skiing. Both are part of my life – I’ve done many reportages on skis – but now I realize even more how essential it is for me to walk freely through the forests and mountains I love. I did daily physiotherapy for the first two months, and now I go two to three times a week. I also do regular exercises at home.
9. Did you receive any rehab advice or a treatment plan that was particularly helpful?
   The most important thing is: stick with it! Little by little, you have to reclaim your body, your sense of movement – with commitment and caution, and with help from experienced professionals. Since I travel a lot for work, I looked for a good rehab center in every city I passed through – with Tecar therapy, massage, and physio. My best friend was ice – it helped a lot.

 

Satisfaction and recommendation

10. Which aspects of our service stood out to you the most?
    The excellent organization and how fast everything went. The accident was on February 9, surgery on February 10 in the afternoon, discharge the next day. I tell everyone: if something like this happens to you, don’t delay. The sooner you act, the sooner you recover – and the sooner you’re yourself again.
11. Did you feel well looked after even after the surgery?
    Absolutely! I was impressed that your staff followed up with me several times to ask how I was doing. Even the surgeon, Dr. Barbetta, got in touch personally – very kind!
12. Would you recommend our clinic to others in a similar situation? And if so, why?
    100%! You’re true specialists for ski injuries, right there on the slopes – that’s incredibly convenient, because everything can be taken care of immediately, without undergoing the painful trip back home.

In the picture: Ms. Lo Surdo with surgeon Dr. Barbetta

 

Experience with the injury and the decision to undergo surgery

1. Can you tell us how your ski accident happened?
   In the very first hour of my ski holiday, I was hit from behind by another skier. It was 10 o’clock in the morning and I was skiing gently down the Brancia slope in the San Cassiano area. I didn’t notice anything – suddenly I was thrown backward into the air and hit my head hard. Fortunately, I was wearing a helmet. The impact was so strong that I didn’t immediately realize my real injury was to my knee: a torn left ACL, with damage to the collateral ligaments, meniscus and tibia.
2. What were your main concerns after the accident?
   In such situations, you’re completely overwhelmed. One thing that’s always important: call the police. What helped me a lot was that I asked for the phone number of the man who ran into me. Luckily, he was honest: he stopped immediately, and since I was in shock and thought it wasn’t too bad, I signaled that he could go on. But in a last-minute instinct, I called out: “Hey, give me your number anyway – you never know!” Never underestimate what might have happened to you in a crash. Two young men called the toboggan rescue and the police, and with their help, I called the guy back – and he actually came back and took responsibility.
3. What led you to decide to have surgery right after the accident?
   I was taken to the clinic in La Villa, that works with the Dolomiti Sportclinic. Dr. Pangallo looked at the MRI and, when he heard that I do walking reportages for work, he looked at me with real empathy and said: “My advice – get surgery now, and you’ll be done with it.” I had a lump in my throat – I didn’t think it was that serious. But even though I couldn’t hold back the tears, I didn’t hesitate. I was admitted to the clinic the very next day.

 

Experience with the clinic and medical staff

4. How did you experience the time leading up to the surgery in our clinic? Were you afraid – and how did you deal with it?
   It was my first real surgery, so of course I was nervous, as anyone would be. But I always tell people now: the fear is usually much worse than the reality. The staff is extremely well prepared and does everything to calm you down and ease your fears. And the surgeons perform these operations ten times a day – it’s routine for them, even if it doesn’t feel like that for you.
5. What was your impression of the medical and nursing staff?
   I actually had fun! The nurses were fantastic – especially the wonderful Barbara, who accompanied me into the operating room. Her voice was so calming that I told her she could work in radio! I actually said that as I was already starting to fall asleep from the anesthesia…
6. How would you describe the care and support you received during your stay?
   Everything was perfect. This kind of experience helps you understand something essential – how deeply human this profession is. People who work with pain every day have a huge impact on others’ lives. Despite all the hassle – insurance, logistics, stress – this journey taught me to appreciate so many things I used to take for granted.

 

In the second part of her story, Valentina Lo Surdo shares how she experienced her time in the clinic, what helped her most during recovery – and why she’s now able to look back on it with a smile.

On May 12, the world celebrates International Nurses Day – a symbolic date to honour a truly vital profession in healthcare: nursing.

At Dolomiti Sportclinic, we take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to those who care for our patients every day with professionalism, empathy, and dedication.

Our nurses are always there – in the Emergency Department, in inpatient care, and in the Operating Room. They are a steady presence, a voice of reassurance, a source of calm in difficult moments – always with skill and a sincere smile.

In the Operating Room, scrub nurses, like the one on the right in the photo, play a key role as the surgeon’s right hand. They prepare each instrument with precision, anticipate every step, and contribute significantly to the success of the surgery.

As many of our patients say: it’s the attentive eyes, the gentle voice, and the constant presence of our nurses that truly make the difference.

Thank you for all that you do – every day, for every patient!

1. Listen to your body

Fatigue is a major contributing factor to ski injuries. As you become tired, your reaction times slow down, and your form can deteriorate, increasing the likelihood of a fall. Pay attention to your body’s signals. If you start feeling exhausted or if your muscles are sore, it’s really time to take a break.

2. Hydrate and refuel

Keeping your energy levels up is crucial. Make sure you stay hydrated and take regular breaks to eat snacks. This helps maintain your energy levels and keeps you alert and focused on your skiing technique.

3. Plan your day

Avoid skiing for long stretches without breaks. It’s better to have shorter, more frequent breaks than to push yourself for hours on end. Plan your skiing day with periodic rests to allow your body to recover and recharge. After lunch, when your body is busy digesting, your muscle strength and concentration might diminish. Keep this in mind and try to take it easy.

4. Know your limits

Be honest with yourself about your skiing abilities. Pushing beyond your limits can lead to mistakes and injuries. If you’re feeling unsure or tired, it’s better to call it a day or switch to easier runs.

5. Stay in tune with the conditions

Snow and weather conditions can change rapidly. Fresh snow, icy patches, crowded slopes, or foggy conditions can all impact your safety.

At Dolomiti Sportclinic, we see ski injuries daily during the winter months. Our extensive experience allows us to accurately assess and recommend ways to avoid them. By listening to the advices above, you can enjoy a safer and more enjoyable skiing experience. The best way to avoid a ski injury is to take a break before you get too tired. Remember, skiing should be fun, and taking care of yourself is key to making the most of your time on the slopes without injuring yourself.

With the New Year, many set new goals to achieve. For the Dolomiti Sportclinic, striving for excellence remains the most importatn. Our main goal is to ensure the highest satisfaction of our patients.

Our approach includes:

• Fastest possible treatment: We know that time is crucial for recovery. Therefore, we strive to treat each patient as quickly as possible.
• Highly specialized doctors: Our specialists cover all aspects of orthopedics and traumatology. This ensures that every patient receives the best possible treatment.
• Complete care: From the initial visit to the post-operative physiotherapy, we offer 360° care. This ensures our patients feel well taken care of at all stages, from the injury until they return to daily life and favourite sports activities.

We also place particular importance on patient-friendliness and accessibility. It is very important to us to always be available for our patients’ questions and concerns. This constant availability helps build trust and support the healing process.

For the year 2025, we aim to continue excelling in what we have proven to be good at, and to continually improve. Patient feedback is of great importance and helps us continuously optimize our services.

We proudly consider ourselves a clinic for everyone. Our patients range from elite athletes and recreational sports enthusiasts to elderly individuals and, above all, children. Our doctors and nurses are specialized in addressing the unique needs of children. It is of great importance to us that our young patients feel comfortable and safe with us, as their trust and satisfaction are our top priorities. For this reason, we place special emphasis on providing child-friendly and empathetic care. Our goal is for children and their parents to have confidence in us and feel completely at ease in our clinic. We are the right point of contact for orthopedic complaints, injuries to the musculoskeletal system, and wound care.

Sophia Amor, student at the Centre for Health Professions Tyrol, is in the middle of her training to become a health and nursing professional. She is currently completing her internship with us at the Dolomiti Sportclinic and has the opportunity to put her theoretical knowledge into practice. Individual and patient-oriented care is the top priority and restoring the health of the patients with the help of our trained doctors and nurses is part of the internship.

Her insight into anaesthetic care, operating theatre nursing and her work as an operating theatre assistant will prepare her for a future professional and qualified career. In order to be able to provide optimal care, support and treatment for affected people, she will be accompanied and prepared by a professional team.

Read here what Ms Amor herself says about her internship with us:

“Actually, I was asked to write only 3-4 sentences, however, with such an excellent training facility as the Dolomiti Sportclinic that is impossible. If I had to describe this house with one word, “familiar” would be the best. From the very first day, everyone welcomed me in a very friendly and appreciative way. As a trainee from another country, with little knowledge of Italian, this is no problem at all for the DSC team; if necessary, they simply speak English. Learning and further education are very important here. Whether in emergency, on the ward or in the operating theatre every important movement was explained to me in detail. I really appreciate the opportunity to work independently, which speaks for the quality of the clinic as a training center.

To see that a clinic that is inconspicuous from the outside offers so much talent, cohesion and knowledge is almost a stroke of luck for a student. Rarely, if never, have I felt as comfortable in a working environment as I do here and I can only praise everyone involved.

It is a pleasure and also an honour to be part of the team here for some time. I can only recommend an internship at Dolomiti Sportclinic to every student, as you gain so much knowledge for your further education.”

Injuries can occur very quickly in everyday life – both during sporting activities and simple tasks; even in the household, accidents can happen that cause pain if you are careless. Chronic pain also affects the quality of life of countless people when it is present for months or recurs. Both sports traumatological injuries and chronic pain often mean severe restrictions in everyday life, work and leisure.

Now the question arises: who should I turn to when I experience pain in my joints?

A doctor of orthopedics and traumatology should be the first point of contact.

Traumatology deals with injuries and pain conditions of the musculoskeletal system as a result of sports injuries, while orthopedics deals with deformities and diseases of the musculoskeletal system. The most commonly affected areas are the knee, shoulder, hand and wrist as well as the ankle and foot, followed by the hip / pelvis and spine.

Specialized clinics offer a comprehensive range of diagnostic and treatment procedures for injuries and orthopedic clinical pictures.

The correct diagnosis is the be-all and end-all, as this is the prerequisite for targeted treatment, which can include both conservative and surgical methods. Only on the basis of an exact diagnosis can the doctor draw up an individual and targeted treatment strategy together with the patient and help him or her get back into top form.

Immediate and individual treatment of children and adults enables them to return to everyday life as quickly as possible.

So: if it hurts and pinches: have yourself examined, because you are worth it!

Radiography, also known as X-ray, is a screening of the body using X-rays, which shows an image of the inside. This method is mostly used when bone fractures are suspected. It was discovered as early as 1895 by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen and is still considered a proven method, which has been significantly further developed over the years. In this way, a diagnosis can be made quickly and very precisely and further measures can be taken for a speedy recovery.

This technique is used in the modern world both for X-raying the human body and for so-called scanning of goods (e.g. at airports or scan trucks).

This is how Lea, a high school student, describes her school internship, which she completed in March 2023 in the administration of the Dolomiti Sportclinic in Val Gardena:

“I am currently attending the 2nd year of commerce and administration at the vocational training center in Bruneck. Part of this education is a compulsory practical training in the administrative sector of a company. Fortunately, I was given this opportunity at the Dolomiti Sportclinic in Val Gardena. As a trainee, I was very warmly welcomed by everyone. A clinic´s daily routine is very varied, also in the administration division and it never gets boring. For me the two weeks were very interesting and for sure I can take a suitcase full of experiences and memories with me. Thank you very much for everything!”

Dr. Arnold Gurndin from Aldino, after his specialisation in orthopedics and traumatology and his work experience abroad, founded an ambulatory in Ortisei in 2010. From the beginning, the vision was to be the leading institution in the Dolomites for everything related to traumatology and orthopedics.

In the course of time, demand grew, patients arrived with increasingly complex injuries, so that it became necessary to expand the services on site. Dr. Arnold Gurndin brought in his brother Anton Gurndin as administrative director, and just two years later, the facility inside the Prinoth Centre 181 in Ortisei was expanded with operating rooms, an in-patient unit and a physiotherapy gym. On the 27^th of December 2012, the first surgery took place in Ortisei – this was the official birth of the Dolomiti Sportclinic.

The Gilchrist bandage was invented over 100 years ago by the American dermatologist Thomas C. Gilchrist. This support bandage can be applied after injuries or operations to immobilise the shoulder and arm in a certain position and to support them at the same time.

The upper arm of the injured side lies close to the side of the upper body, the elbow is bent at a right angle and the forearm rests on the front of the abdomen.

Once the Gilchrist bandage has been applied, the load of the arm is held by a loop that hangs around the patient’s neck. The injured arm is suspended at the wrist and elbow.

A Gilchrist bandage is often applied after the following injuries:

• Dislocation of the shoulder (shoulder luxation)
• Fracture of the upper arm bone near the shoulder (proximal humerus fracture or humeral head fracture)
• Fracture of the clavicle in the outer region (lateral clavicle fracture)
• Injury to the acromioclavicular joint (AC luxation)

The length of time a Gilchrist bandage must be worn depends on the type of injury or previous surgery. It is usually worn for two to six weeks, followed by targeted restoration of mobility through physiotherapy.

You can find out more about the shoulder here.

The computed tomography (CT-scan) is a computerized system in radiology that allows us to reproduce three-dimensional images of specific body sections. Thanks to the CT, we are not only able to detect certain diseases, but above all we can better assess the extent of the lesion. The three-dimensional images obtained after the respective reconstruction process have a high diagnostic value that sustains us particularly during the surgical treatment of certain fractures.

The above image was extracted from a 3D reconstruction of a CT scan of the tibia where the fracture is clearly visible.

 

The correct behaviour to avoid complications:

• keep the arm elevated
• move fingers and free articulations
• avoid jolting and buckling despite wearing a cast or a splint
• do not modify or remove the cast: in case of pressure lesions show it to your doctor
• follow the doctor’s indications regarding the wearing and removing of the splint
• keep the cast/splint dry and clean
• apply ice on the open part of the cast

For injuries of the lower limbs follow the indications of the doctor for the thrombosis prophylaxis

 

In case of irregular behaviour, the following complications may incur:

• intense  pain
• prickling or paralisis
• itching or redness
• loss of movement of the free articulation/fingers

In case of warning signals do not hesitate to contact the Dolomiti Sportclinic or one of the nearby hospitals.

 

On Friday, the 6th of July 2018 the rescue center in S. Cristina, which had been planned for 18 years, was officially blessed and inaugurated. The  multifunctional structure for the benefit and safety of the whole valley is now the new center of the White and Red Cross. Moreover, it offers space for the mountain rescue and for the dog division Alpine Dogs. In the structure, the White and the Red Cross each have 3 bedrooms with multiple beds, a kitchen and a lounge. Up to 12 rescue vehicles will find their place in the new building behind the glass doors on the ground floor. The staff and volunteers can conveniently park their car in the large underground garage. Other news acquisitions inside the building are the washing system for rescue vehicles, as well as, the in-house laundry and the disinfection room. The top floor of the building is used as a large training room for courses, meetings or first aid exercises.