A 91-year-old farmer is back on his tractor after undergoing Merseyside's first robotic surgery.
Great-grandad Owen John Thomas was one of the first patients to have a knee replaced using a robotic surgery assistant at Spire Murrayfield hospital on the Wirral. The hospital is the first in the Wirral and Liverpool area to offer the cutting-edge robotic technology which helps surgeons plan and perform personalised bone cuts.
The 91-year-old dairy farmer is now acting as he did 20 years ago, according to his son, Tudor. The 66-year-old said: "It was miraculous how well he actually felt afterwards.
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"“He was back on his feet straight away and hardly took any painkillers at all. He’s back doing what he was doing 10 or 20 years ago – it was absolutely marvellous and has definitely given him a new quality of life.”
Mr Thomas, from Holyhead, on Anglesey, who has been a widower for 15 years following the death of his wife, Mair, sought surgeon Mr Ganapathi’s expertise last year after suffering a fall and losing all mobility. Son Tudor added: "He must’ve been suffering with arthritis in both knees for a long time.
“He couldn’t put any weight on the left knee yet he’d always been very active all his life. Previous to the fall, he was busy doing everything around the farm, driving around on his tractor.
“I was with my dad when Mr Ganapathi explained the procedure. He told us he’d already been using the method in his NHS work in North Wales and had found it very successful, so we said yes we’d go for it.”
Even though he was well-acquainted with the benefits of robot-assisted knee surgery, Mr Ganapathi was still surprised at the speed of the farmer’s recovery, given that he was 90 when he underwent the procedure. He said: "John was able to walk unaided with 24 hours – normally it takes around six weeks with traditional surgery.
“It’s faster recovery and less pain. Some patients are going home walking unaided within 24 hours.”
The system initially developed for brain surgery and has been adapted for use in knee replacement procedures because it offers more precision than the human eye. Importantly, it assists the surgeon’s work with data and guidance and does not conduct the surgery itself.
The technology uses data about a patient’s knee to provide the surgeon with detailed information about their individual anatomy to enable them to plan and perform more personalised bone cuts than traditional knee replacement surgery.
During the procedure, the technology works similar to a high-tech GPS system, mapping reference points on the knee joint from a 3D digital plan which has been fed into the ROSA system.
A camera and sensor provide live feedback to the surgeon via a digital display and, with the aid of a robotic guiding arm, the technology helps the surgeon to do precise bone cuts to place the implants according to their plan.
Now fully healed, Mr Thomas is back to enjoying his regular walks and riding his tractor.
“He’s very sociable and he goes out walking to meet people and talk to people,” said Tudor, who has two grown-up sons.
“He’ll still get on his tractor, it doesn’t faze him at all, and he’s very active despite just turning 91. He will go for a walk for three, four or five miles. He’s still driving now and doing most activities."
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