Orthopedic surgeons at NHS Golden Jubilee have carried out the primary meniscal transplant on a affected person in Scotland.
Picture Credit score: NHS Golden Jubilee
Surgeons on the College Nationwide Hospital, which carries out over 25% of all Scottish hip and knee replacements, carried out the revolutionary keyhole process and implanted donor cartilage into the affected person’s knee.
It’s hoped the choice of transplant will remodel affected person look after these in want, by providing the process at NHS Golden Jubilee.
Every knee has two menisci, a c-shaped cartilage within the knee that acts like a shock absorber between the shinbone and the thighbone.
The meniscus can tear attributable to trauma or overuse. If the meniscus is so badly broken that it can’t be repaired, persistent knee ache or osteoarthritis can develop, doubtlessly resulting in the necessity for a complete knee substitute.
Appropriate for sure youthful sufferers, meniscal transplants have the potential to considerably enhance the standard of life for individuals who undergo from persistent ache of their knee attributable to damaging or dropping their meniscus.
To conduct this transplantation, surgeons sourced an identical deceased donor meniscal graft from the USA. Utilizing a digicam as a information, the brand new cartilage is implanted by means of a keyhole process underneath normal anesthetic.
There’s rising proof that this process can play an important function in stopping arthritis, which may be troublesome to deal with in youthful sufferers, and lowering the necessity for a full knee substitute.
NHS Golden Jubilee Orthopedic Consultants Mr Christopher Gee and Mr Jon Clarke and Queen Elizabeth College Hospital (QEUH) Orthopedic Guide Mr Simon Spencer labored collectively to hold out the process.
We’re very excited to have the ability to provide this surgical procedure, as it’s the first time this method has been carried out in Scotland.
The process tries to revive the cushioning impact of the meniscus, in flip preserving the joints till later in life. There’s rising proof that it might assist with signs and scale back the prospect of the affected person creating arthritis, which may be very troublesome to deal with in youthful sufferers.
What we all know is that 70 to 80% of people that have a meniscal transplant see an enchancment of their signs.
There’s quite a lot of proof to assist good practical outcomes, so we’re actually trying to have the ability to present this process for a lot of extra folks from throughout Scotland.”
Mr Christopher Gee, NHS Golden Jubilee Orthopedic Consultants
Whereas for a lot of older sufferers with this situation, a complete or partial joint substitute is perhaps the fitting choice, for a younger, energetic individual like Matthew Watkins from Inverness, the concept of ready by means of years of ache was daunting.
He stated: “After I had an accident within the fitness center, I used to be getting quite a lot of ache which was stopping me from mountain biking and hill strolling, my knee would swell up and it was actually affecting my high quality of life.
“Mainly, I had destroyed the entire of the within of my knee and broken the precise bones, so the cartilage had worn away and wanted to be repaired.
“Extra of the meniscus wanted to be eliminated to attempt to alleviate a number of the ache.
“By way of the way it felt instantly afterwards, I might really feel one thing was inside my knee once I was placing weight on it in comparison with the way it felt earlier than once I didn’t have any meniscus in there.
“I’m glad I had the surgical procedure, I can actually really feel a distinction.”
Following a cautious course of in organising the service and dealing in collaboration with NHS Better Glasgow & Clyde, the Clydebank-based workforce ensured the process is protected for sufferers.
Having mentioned the case with Mr Watkins and having gone by means of a shared decision-making course of, the workforce gained approval from the native well being board, NHS Highland, to carry out the surgical procedure.
NHS Golden Jubilee at all times seems to be to innovate and enhance the affected person expertise.
We’re certainly one of Europe’s largest centres for deliberate arthroplasty, performing round 4,000 joint replacements annually – round 25% of all joint replacements in Scotland.
Though that is the primary time this method has been utilized in Scotland and the operation is just not but being extensively carried out, it’s clear this surgical procedure has an actual place for folks with persistent ache following a meniscal tear.”
Christine Divers, Director of Nationwide Elective Providers, NHS Golden Jubilee
“The introduction of a brand new method like this helps us to ship person-centered look after people who find themselves in excessive ache and offers us the flexibility to supply the affected person with much-needed aid which aids their restoration.
“This landmark meniscal transplant reveals that we’re at all times searching for to progress and discover new methods to extend the standard of lifetime of our sufferers whereas persevering with to reinforce look after the folks of Scotland.”
