November 2, 2010 1.49 pm This story is over 159 months old

Lincoln pioneers new shoulder surgery

New surgery: A doctor in Lincoln has introduced a new form of surgery for people with shoulder complaints.

A Lincoln County Hospital surgeon is trying out a new way of treating shoulder problems that causes the shoulder bone to dislocate.

Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Professor Mohammad Maqsood, has recently started offering the surgery for the defect, known as Hill-Sachs lesion.

It is an injury caused by dislocating the shoulder, which damages the ball of the joint, thus making further dislocations more likely.

Previously, the problem was treated by a bone graft, but this could lead to loss of muscle, tendon and bone mass on the donor body area.

Maqsood’s new surgery instead uses a synthetic scaffold to mend the damage, which means patients recover quicker and there are no effects to other parts of the body.

He said: “This condition can be very serious for patients who are affected, as it is caused by a defect in the ball of the shoulder joint, and can mean that a patient’s shoulder dislocates on a fairly regular basis, which can be very painful and restrictive.

“Previously, we would harvest bone and tissue from elsewhere in the body to mend this defect, but that causes damage in the area you are harvesting from.

“Instead, I am now using a synthetic scaffold, which is inserted into the defect and allows the patient’s own bones to grow into and fill the defect. This is a permanent solution which is much more pleasant for them.”

One of the first patients to receive the surgery was Jeremy Conway.

He said of the surgery: “I am very pleased with the surgery. I experienced very little pain following the surgery and I regained full movement within about three weeks of the operation.

“I am glad to have been able to receive such minimally invasive surgery in Lincolnshire and resume normal activity so soon afterwards.”