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Tuesday, 28 June 2005 11:10 | BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
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A Scottish surgeon has developed an artificial disc that could change the face of treatment for back pain.
Douglas Wardlaw, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon with NHS Grampian said the new keyhole method would minimise damage to surrounding tissue and shorten the recovery period.
The procedure involves using a tube to remove the damaged part of an unstable disc and replace it with a balloon type structure which is then filled with gel. Patients can receive the treatment as outpatients.
Chronic back pain costs the NHS £400m a year and the economy as a whole £6bn.
It is hoped that by replacing current surgical procedures, whereby vertebrae are fused and damaged discs replaced in open surgery, the artificial disc could lead to massive savings for the health service.
“They will be able to return to their normal lives more quickly and therefore there will be significant savings to the NHS,” he said.
Funding has been granted and a project is underway to further develop the artificial disc over the next three years.
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