BAPRAS on the One Show

Last night, the BBC One Show featured a segment on BAPRAS surgeon Omar Ahmed, oral and maxillofacial surgeon James Adams, and dental expert Francis Nohl at the Royal Victoria Infirmary.

The multidisciplinary team led a pioneering 12-hour reconstructive operation to remove a benign tumour that was destroying the patients jaw.

The patient, Tommy Innes, underwent the reconstructive surgery earlier this year as, if left untreated, his jaw would eventually break, and his teeth would move out of place making it increasingly difficult to talk or eat.

The operation employed cutting edge computed generated 3D planning and 3D printing to customise his reconstruction and allow dental implants to be accurately inserted into his leg bone (fibula), used to reconstruct the jaw, before the bone was removed from his leg - all during the same operation.

The surgical team worked with medical device experts and clinical engineers at DePuy Synthes and Materialise, to develop personalised surgical guides and titanium 3D printed implants to help the surgeons carry out extremely accurate procedures during this complex surgery.

Using information from a patient’s CT scan of the skull, a surgical planning software is used to produce a ‘virtual surgical plan’ with 3D images, and 3D printed cutting and drilling guides and titanium plates designed to make sure the long and complex surgery could be carried out as accurately as possible. A precise, patient-specific fit to preserve the function of the mouth, in particular the jaw, is essential for the patient.

Tommy Innes is recovering well in Newcastle.