A woman who injured her wrist while tenpin bowling has become the first patient in Britain to benefit from a surgical technique that might spell new hope for arthritis sufferers.
Christine Lockton talked to surgeons during the operation yesterday as they replaced a joint that governs people's ability to move their hand from palm up to palm down position with a high-density polyethylene ball held in a metallic cup.
The artificial replacement, developed over the last 10 years in the United States, has only just won approval from regulatory bodies for its use outside research.
Specialist hand surgeons from around Europe watched by videolink from a nearby room as the procedure's pioneer, Luis Scheker, performed the operation at Derriford hospital, Plymouth. Mrs Lockton, 56, a secretary, is expected to return home today.
She tore ligaments in her wrist while bowling nearly five years ago but the injury developed into a painful arthritic condition. "After the injury I found that virtually all the strength had gone from my right hand," she said before undergoing the operation, which involved her arm being anaesthetised and took just over an hour.
"I couldn't even control a pen and had to learn to write left-handed. I didn't want to stop working and was worried that after the conventional surgery I might not be able to carry on my job without the full movement in my wrist."
A local surgeon, James McDiarmid, had worked with Dr Scheker in Louisville, Kentucky, five years ago and rang his former colleague for a second opinion on her condition. Dr Scheker offered to travel to Europe to demonstrate the operation and prosthesis.
Mrs Lockton, who had emailed Dr Scheker to find out more about the new prosthetic in advance, said: "I am very grateful to Mr McDiarmid and his team for arranging for me to have this operation, and so close to home."
Only about 30 patients in the US have so far undergone the procedure. Dr Scheker recently performed the operation in Spain and will soon demonstrate it again in Glasgow. He said the joint had undergone 5m rotating cycles in tests with up to 100lb on it to prove toughness and longevity.
Mr McDiarmid said the technique should help younger patients who needed to retain the flexible use of their hands. For them it was probably "the only hope they have".
Dr Scheker, of the Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery in Louisville, said Mrs Lockton was "fine".
"She talked all through the operation and I expect her to use her hand from tomorrow, even though we will protect the wound because we don't want infection."
