A new “knot-free” approach to shoulder surgery has been trialled and researched at Spire Bristol Hospital over the last three years.
Leading Orthopaedic Surgeon, Mr Neil Blewitt has successfully completed this three-year study at the hospital, looking into patient-reported outcomes after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair with a new knot free technique.
Mr Blewitt said, “this surgery is used to restore torn tendons in the shoulder and is performed using minimal access. The benefit of this type of procedure is a reduced stay in hospital – from a previous 3 nights, to a standard day-case. Also pain post-procedure is greatly reduced resulting in a far shorter recovery time.”
This study examined patient-reported outcomes after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair with a new knot-free technique in 50 patients at 15 months after surgery.
Dr V Wylde and Dr R Amirfeyz, from University of Bristol’s Orthopaedic Department, externally reviewed the three-year clinical outcomes.
Mr Colin Millard, from Bristol had a tendon repair in April 2008 at Spire Bristol Hospital, under the care of Mr Blewitt using the knot-free technique and was delighted with the result.
“Before my operation my shoulder pain had been ongoing for 9 months. It was impacting on my job and made sleeping and driving very difficult. But I have been so pleased with the results and have healed much faster than I expected. I couldn’t believe it would all be so quick, I was in hospital at 7am and home by the evening”, Mr Millard said.
Since this study Mr Blewitt has performed nearly 200 arthroscopic rotator cuff repairs.
