Centre of General and Oncological Surgery

The Department of Surgery at East Tallinn Central Hospital is one of the oldest in Estonia. The beginning of surgical activity was in 1847, when a kit of surgical supplies was purchased for the hospital, surgeries were performed in wards. The new more complete kits of surgical instruments were purchased in 1886. An operating room was built in 1887 on the first floor of the main building that was completed in 1872.

Today's Centre of General and Oncological Surgery at East Tallinn Central Hospital deals with the surgical treatment of skin and soft tissues, breast, gastrointestinal tract, abdominal wall, vascular system and endocrine system diseases. Many of our activities are related to the treatment of malignant tumours. The centre has 38 beds for inpatient treatment and 6 for outpatients.

The Centre of General and Oncological Surgery includes the Department of Surgery, Surgery Clinic and the Unit of Outpatient Care.

Department of Surgery

• At oncological surgery we diagnose the tumours of gastrointestinal, skin, soft tissues (muscle tissue, fat tissue, connective tissue), endocrine system and breasts.
• The treatment practice of oncological patients is determined by the oncological council where the specialists related to the diagnosis of the disease and treatment are represented.
• Mini-invasive surgery is a method used increasingly more in all areas of surgical treatment in which surgeries are performed through small (about 1 cm) cuts by using special instruments. We perform over 3,500 surgeries a year, 30% of them using a mini-invasive technique.
• Endocrine surgery mainly deals with the surgical treatment of thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal and pancreatic hormone diseases. There is close cooperation with endocrinologists, pathologists, radiologists and nuclear medicine doctors.
• Vascular surgery deals with the treatment and diagnostics of artery and vein diseases.
• In the treatment of patients with abdominal aorta, lower and upper limb artery and carotid artery pathologies, we use surgically and vascularly sustainable methods (extension, stenting, etc.) or a combination of both.

Surgery Outpatient Clinic

• Surgeon's appointment
• Vascular surgeon’s appointment
• Wound care nurse's appointment
• Bariatric nurse's appointment
• Stoma nurse's appointment (intestinal stomas)

A referral letter from a specialist or a general practitioner is needed for an appointment with a surgeon at East Tallinn Central Hospital. It is also possible to visit a surgeon without a referral letter and with a shorter waiting period. Patients with a reasonable suspicion of malignancy will have a waiting period of up to two weeks when a general practitioner has referred them to our specialist. When registering, it is important that you inform the customer assistant of such a suspicion or diagnosis.

Outpatient care unit

In the conditions of the outpatient unit, we mainly perform the surgeries for:

• soft tissue tumours
• abdominal wall hernia
• varicose veins
• gallstones