By Tshidiso Masopha
Source: SA Good News
From left to right: Dr Herman Breet, Dr Jadine du Plessis and Dr Jaco Viljoen
A 15-year-old boy walked into Netcare Unitas Hospital in Centurion facing the devastating prospect of losing his leg to an aggressive bone cancer. Thanks to a surgical first for South Africa, he walked out of the operating theatre with it very much intact and a physiotherapist helping him take his first steps the very next day.
Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Jaco Viljoen performed the groundbreaking procedure this week, using a liquid nitrogen-dipping technique to treat Ewing’s sarcoma, the second most common bone tumour in children and adolescents. The condition predominantly strikes young people between the ages of 10 and 20, targeting the long bones of the arms and legs, the pelvis, and the chest wall.
The conventional approach would have meant removing the diseased section of bone and replacing it with a large prosthesis, effectively ruling out any return to contact sport. For a sporty teenager, that news landed like a gut punch. “When I explained that conventional surgery meant no more contact sports, I saw the devastation in his eyes and in his father’s,” said Viljoen. “That’s when I knew we had to try something different.”
Different is quite the understatement. The beauty of the approach lies in what it preserves. The boy keeps his own bone, his own hip joint, and crucially, the ability for both to continue developing naturally as he grows. “His own bone will regenerate and integrate with the surrounding tissue,” Viljoen explained. “For a young person, that’s game-changing.”
This kid has many seasons ahead of him by the looks of it.
Recovery has been nothing short of remarkable. Just 24 hours after surgery, the patient was alert, showing strong neurovascular function, and managing assisted steps with his physiotherapist. The team behind the operation included surgical assistants Dr Jadine du Plessis and Dr Herman Breet, anaesthetist Dr Bianca Brits, and theatre nurses Gloria Kgwete, Leah Lekoane, and Mahlatse Motheta. Dr Erich Bock summed it up with quiet pride: “This is proof that although our healthcare system often gets a bad rap, this story proves that we’re capable of delivering world-class medical care right here at home. Even if a procedure or two can be a bit chilling.”😊
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