Hand surgery in arthritis patients set to improve thanks to Glasgow research
A Glasgow bioengineer aims to develop a "virtual surgery" tool to improve the success of hand and wrist surgery in patients with the crippling condition of rheumatoid arthritis.
The tool will enable surgeons to carry out "tailor-made" operations on a patient specific basis, and will mean that patients get to take part in any decision about which type of surgery is best for them.
Dr Nicola Fowler, a senior research fellow at the University of Strathclyde's bioengineering unit, has been awarded a further two years of funding from the Arthritis Research Campaign (arc) of nearly £100,000 to carry out the work.
Rheumatoid arthritis affects around 380,000 people in the UK. The joints in the hand and wrist are affected earlier and more frequently than any other joint in the body, becoming swollen, misshapen and painful.
"For patients whose joints are seriously destroyed, only reconstructive surgery can relieve pain, reduce deformity and restore movement and grip, "explained Dr Fowler. "Although surgery reduces pain, longer-term follow-up of results often reveals that recurrent deformity or implant failure are unacceptably high."
Dr Fowler aims to improve surgical techniques by finding out more about the forces applied to the arthritic hand and wrist in everyday use. She will then produce a computerised "virtual surgery" tool for the hand and wrist.
The tool will enable surgeons to understand and visualise the long-term consequences of selected treatments for individual patients, and will enable patients to take part in decisions about their own course of treatment.
Glasgow is a major centre of research into arthritis, and a major beneficiary of funding from the Arthritis Research Campaign. The charity's president, Professor Roger Sturrock, is Professor of Rheumatology at the University of Glasgow.
