Born and raised in Vienna, he started his orthopedic internship at the University Hospital Innsbruck where he was trained in spine surgery, he later continued at University Hospital Vienna. In those times University Hospital Vienna was led by Professor Karl Ciari who was well known for hip surgery. Dr. Kraft worked in the team alongside Prof Karl Zweymüller where they began developing a cement-free hip replacement. Later on in his career, he transferred to City Hospital Zwettl where he was appointed to Surgeon in Chief in the Orthopaedic Department.

 

Accidently, while windsurfing at Lago di Garda, Dr. Kraft was severely injured causing a lumbar disc prolapse. This incident he endured had a strong influence on his further career as he refused to undergo surgery for the treatment of his injury. This led him to begin the search for non-invasive procedures to treat his own injury. Due to the injury he endured, Dr. Kraft started focusing on hand, hip, knee and foot surgeries as he was unable to perform major orthopedic surgeries due to the permanent pain which resulted from his accident.

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Dr. Krafts primary focus was to find and develop techniques to avoid open disc surgery.

 

 

This was the drive for his decision to establish Vertebralia, the first outpatient clinic for vertebral disorders in Vienna. What followed was extensive research, trips, and visits to health facilities and hospitals with related interests in other countries, along with continuous correspondence with equally focused institutions. Working alongside specialists from other faculties, Vertebralia developed a new holistic way for effective treatments of vertebral disorders. By doing so, a high percentage of patients were prevented from undergoing exceedingly invasive open spine surgery.

 

While still performing open disc surgery, Dr. Kraft identified an increasing amount of patients over the years who were eligible for his extended conservative treatment program. As the years went on, this method of treatment became more and more commonly done. This method of treatment was adopted by various other orthopedic surgeons in the field, with an increasing amount of state of the art outpatient clinics performing similar treatment procedures. Open disc surgery today has very limited indication.

 

As a result of the success of the first Vertebralia, Center of Spine Excellence, Dr. Kraft has planned new clinics in Vienna and Warsaw (Poland). A planned project in Dubai was unfortunately hit by the economic crisis in 2008.

 

In 2017, Dr. Kraft retired from his active days in the clinic to focus on the passing of his extensive knowledge. In 2019, he published a book which was a compilation of his experience and knowledge he acquired throughout the years. The informative book is on the diagnosis of back pain and non-surgical minimally invasive treatment.

 

Dr. Kraft worked as a medical advisor in several senior residences in Vienna, due to this he acquired a great knowledge and understanding for what senior citizens require.

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This deep knowledge would be the fundament for a future project in this sector.