The Department was established in 1926 and started working within the walls of the Orthopedic Institute. Its founder prof. I.I. Frumin was the head of the Department in 1926-1936. Later the Department was headed by professors G.Ye. Frumina (1936-1941), B.K. Babych (1944-1952), K.M. Klimov (1952-1957), O.H. Yeletskyi (1957-1958), F.R. Bogdanov (1958-1973), M.V. Novikov (1973-1988), V.A. Popov (1988-2008).  Since 2008, it is headed by prof. M.L. Ankin.

At the beginning of its operation, the main issue on which the Department worked was the organization of orthopedic and traumatological services in Ukraine, medical workers training (I.I. Frumin). Prof. H.E. Frumina established a school of pediatric orthopedics which focused on congenital malformations of the musculoskeletal system, congenital hip dislocation, clubfoot, the consequences of poliomyelitis.

After the Second World War, the research work of the Department was focused on the treatment of osteoarticular tuberculosis, gunshot osteomyelitis (B.K. Babych); false joints, defects and broken bones (K.M. Klimov); bone tissue regeneration and stimulation (O.H. Yeletskyi).

In 1958-1973, the scientific interests of the Department included the issues of metal osteosynthesis, bone grafting, dysplastic and degenerative-dystrophic diseases of joints (F.R. Bogdanov). Further, the core areas of the Department research work were in-depth development of the metal osteosynthesis method (M.V. Novikov), deforming osteoarthritis of the knee, biomechanical direction in surgery of degenerative-dystrophic lesions of joints, endoprosthesis of hip and knee joints, stable and functional osteosynthesis of intra-articular fractures (V.A. Popov). Currently, the main area of research of the Department is the state-of-the-art algorithms for treating complications of high-energy trauma of the musculoskeletal system. (M.L. Ankin).