A Danish man has become the first person in the country to receive a 3D-printed skull implant, nearly a decade and a half after a cycling accident destroyed half his cranium.
The six-hour operation was performed in late June at Aarhus University Hospital in Skejby by neurosurgeon Baskaran Ketharanathan and a team of four doctors and four nurses. Mads Blume, from Silkeborg, suffered the original injury 14 years ago when a cycling crash shattered half of his skull.
Because Blume is heavily tattooed across most of his body, surgeons used skin from his left buttock to cover the new implant, opting for an area free of ink. The procedure marks a milestone for reconstructive surgery in Denmark, demonstrating the clinical viability of custom 3D-printed cranial prosthetics for patients with severe skull trauma.