It is natural at the end of the year to want to look back and reflect on the last 12 months and, no doubt like all of you, we find ourselves reflecting on what a strange year it has been.
Alongside the many personal challenges, we have collectively faced difficulties across the whole of healthcare, with mandatory care being paused, often for extended periods of time, which has led to pain and suffering and, often, a worsening of symptoms for those affected. The impact on people’s physical and mental health may not be fully realised for some time to come and, as we approach 2021, the hope is that we can get quickly back on track so that patients can receive the quality of care that they deserve.
Clinical milestones and achievements
However, despite the many challenges this year has brought, we are delighted to say that 2020 has seen many outstanding clinical milestones for us and our patients. Here are some of the achievements that we have celebrated this year:
Our 150th Mako robotic-assisted surgery procedure
In the last few months, we passed a significant milestone for the 150thnumber of completed Mako surgeries. Earlier in the year we celebrated our 100th Mako procedures – 100! I also became the first orthopaedic surgeon in the UK to perform all three types of Mako surgery in the same patient– partial knee, total knee and total hip replacements.
We will continue to offer this innovative surgical approach and have recently become part of the UK Stryker Mako surgeon faculty, helping in the certification of other surgeons to use the Mako robot technology.
This involves facilitating a training programme called ‘Faculty Stryker Mako System Certification Surgical Training Programme; Mako Partial Knee & Total Knee & Total Hip applications.’
In the last few months, we began offering Mako surgical procedures at both Nuffield Cambridge and Spire Lea Hospitals, which means greater availability and a choice of hospitals for patients.
BBC TV programme
I appeared on the BBC Two programme ‘Surgeons: At the Edge of Life’ carrying out pioneering pelvic palliative care surgery for an NHS cancer patient.
The programme shone a spotlight on complex and high risk surgical procedures (such as the Harrington plus procedure that I performed) for these vulnerable patients and was well-received by patients and critics alike.
iNews said the procedures featured in the programme “beggar belief” and The Sun newspaper described the surgeons as “the best in the world”.
I Want Great Care Certificate of Excellence
No less exciting for me as a surgeon was receiving the I Want Great Care certificate of excellence. As I write this, there are currently 365 patient reviews on the site and I would like to thank every one of my patients who has gone to the time and trouble of uploading a review. This is a fantastic resource for other patients as it enables them to hear direct from fellow patients what their experience of surgery with me was like.
I would also like to thank my fantastic surgical team – including nurses, anaesthetists and administrators; as well as those involved in providing crucial post-operative care (general practitioners, physiotherapists, osteopaths and chiropractor colleagues). Without their outstanding support none of this work would be possible and next year we will continue to work hard to maximise each and every patient outcome.
Research & Podium Presentations/Education
All of the major conferences and presentations were significant impacted by Covid this year, with all large scale events moving online and meetings conducted with stringent social distancing measures. Nevertheless, we participated in several, including:
- Spire and Nuffield Zoom-based lower limb presentations for GPs, physiotherapists, osteopaths and chiropractor colleagues.
- As Chief Investigator, overseeing the full recruitment of 60 patients, for the NIHR RFPB AceFIT trial into older patients (over 60) with acetabular fractures. Currently, data from this trial is being analysed with results anticipated early in the new year. We are looking forward to the findings which will help to provide a better understanding of the treatment options and advance the standard of care in patients with potentially life-changing acetabulum/pelvic fractures. The study will compare three methods of treatment of acetabular fractures in older patients; surgical fixation versus surgical fixation and hip replacement versus non-surgical treatment.
Peer reviewed publications
In 2020, we published a number of peer-reviewed articles in leading scientific journals, including:
- The Global Burden of Trauma during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review. Accepted November 2020: Manuscript Number: JCOT-D-20-01088R1 Journal of Clinical Orthopaedics and Trauma. Addenbrookes Cambridge University Hospital NHS FT. S.Waseem, S.K.Nayar, P.Hull, A.Carrothers, J.Rawal, D.Chou, V.Khanduja.
- The impact of frailty in major trauma in older patients. M Pecheva, M Phillips, P Hull, R O’Leary, AD Carrothers, J Queally.. Injury May 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.injury.2020.04.045
International Presentations
I presented at a number of international events including:
- Simultaneous Fracture Fixation and Total Hip Arthroplasty for Osteoporotic Acetabular Fractures in the Elderly. Daud Tai Shan Chou, Ross Coomber, Thomas Baigent, Joseph Martin Queally, Peter Hull, Andrew Douglas Carrothers. OTA Zoom Denver, 25-28 September 2020.This is the largest Trauma conference in the world, where we were honoured to have our research recognised with a live Zoom podium presentation on the extremely important topic of fragility type fractures in the older population. In the presentation we explored the treatment options to maintain patient’s quality of life and functional status.
Regional presentations
Among the many regional presentations we delivered were:
- Combined Pelvic Ring and Acetabular Fractures: Treatment, Complications and Outcomes. 38th Annual Cambridge Trauma and Orthopaedic Club, March 2020
Orthopaedic courses and conferences
Among the courses and conferences we attended this year were:
- Faculty Stryker Mako System Certification Surgical Training Programme;
Mako Partial Knee & Total Knee & Total Hip applications.
- Orthopaedic Trauma Association Annual conference, Newcastle
Go the Shelford Strikers!
And finally, on a lighter (but no less important) note, we were delighted to sponsor the Shelford Strikers under 11 team. We provided match and training kit for the second season to this very successful local youth football team and it’s been a privilege to be part of their very successful season, despite the impact of Covid and its restrictions.
This is largely down to the professionalism and focused attitudes of the entire team; from the team manager and coaches down to every member of the squad, not to mention the dedication from the relentless parent and family support network who turn out every match to cheer the team on and often to get socially distanced cold and wet on the sideline! Well done again to everyone involved.
And finally, thank you to all of you for visiting our website and reading our blogs. The whole team at Carrothers Orthopaedic would like to wish you a very happy, healthy (and fully functioning!) new year.
We look forward to continuing the great work into 2021, helping patients towards living pain-free. This we believe comes from the pursuit of clinical excellence with ongoing education, research and always putting the patient needs first.
