Operation a first for Nelson

COLIN SMITH

ON THE MEND: Ron Kee, 82, of Blenheim is ready to head home after he had the first endovascular aneurism repair operation performed by vascular surgeon Murray Ogg, left, and his team at Nelson Hospital.

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With the help of some revolutionary surgery undertaken for the first time at Nelson Hospital, 82-year-old Ron Kee will be able to return home well in time to see his favorite hibiscus flowers bloom.

"I am feeling a bit bruised, but I am just over the moon. You have to experience it to understand," an emotional Mr Kee said. "I'll be back to gardening in no time, but I don't know if I will go back to the lawns. I might play it up a bit," he joked.

Mr Kee went in for surgery to repair a potentially fatal aneurism in his artery last Tuesday, and he is already home in Blenheim thanks to a surgery newly available in the region.

Previously, Mr Kee would have had to travel to Wellington or Christchurch for the procedure.

One of his surgeons, Murray Ogg, who worked as part of team of nine on Mr Kee, said the normal diameter of the artery was about 2cm, but Mr Kee's had swollen to 6cm.

"It's like the soft spot in a bicycle tyre. It can bulge and burst with catastrophic consequences."

He said getting an aneurism was bad luck, which could happen because of age, but has occurred in people as young as 50.

"It's one of those things you don't hear a lot about."

The traditional method of treatment requires open surgery, where the patient needs time in the intensive care unit and can take three to six months to fully recover.

Mr Ogg said that method had been the standard since the 1950s until a new endovascular surgery was developed where two small incisions were made in the femoral arteries in the groin and a spring-loaded metal stent was fed up them.

Vascular sheaths were introduced into the patient's arteries, through which the stent was passed.

X-rays of the artery determine the location of the stent, and once in place, blood can travel down the stent rather than into the surrounding aneurism.

"It's like putting a ship in a bottle. You don't want to pull the sails up too soon," Dr Ogg said.

Mr Kee said he was lucky to initially discover the aneurism after getting a checkup from the doctor.

Dr Ogg envisioned about 40 per cent of the 15 patients in the Nelson-Marlborough region requiring assistance would have this type of surgery.

Mr Kee would now go back home with his wife of 57 years, Julia. "It has been a great thing, and he has come along so well, but he is pretty fit," Mrs Kee said.

- © Fairfax NZ News