NUH News SPRING 2016 WEB

5
FeatureStory
I just felt this pain
like I’d never felt
before. I couldn’t
move my arm at all.
Spare rib
surgery is
NUH first
A teenager is now pain-free after
a groundbreaking operation to
remove a 'spare rib' that she was
born with.
Charlie Wright, 15, lived with the extra
rib, near her collar bone for many years
without it causing any problems, after
being diagnosed with it when she was a
young child. The only tell-tale sign was a
small, bony lump near her neck.
But in December 2014, as she pushed
herself up out of her bed, she felt intense
pain surge through her body which would
not go away.
Charlie said: “I just felt this pain like I’d
never felt before. I couldn’t move my arm
at all.”
Her mum Sammy said: “She was just
screaming and shouting. She was in
absolute agony. It was so sudden.”
At first Charlie and her parents did not
link it to the extra rib, but after x-rays
and scans were carried out it was clear it
was the cause. The tests revealed a rare
complication; the extra rib had a hinge-like
joint in it which was trapping blood vessels
and nerves, causing severe pain.
It is a condition that is sometimes seen
in much older patients, but doctors had
never seen it in someone of Charlie’s age.
William Tennant, Consultant Vascular
Surgeon based at QMC, explained:
“Charlie was born with an extra rib, called
a ‘cervical rib’. Lots of people have them,
but not as big as Charlie’s.
“The extra rib was joined on to an
abnormal lump of bone on her first (top)
rib, and there was a joint in the middle.
“The major nerves leading to Charlie's left
arm, and the artery supplying it with blood
were being squeezed very severely by the
extra rib, which, I think, had bent at its
joint when she pushed herself up from bed
causing sudden onset of severe pain and
numbness.”
For the next three months Charlie required
strong painkillers and was regularly in
and out of hospital as doctors monitored
the extra rib and determined the best
treatment option.
In March 2015, the day before her 15 th
birthday she underwent the operation. It
was a nerve-wracking time for Charlie and
her parents.
Charlie said: “I didn’t want an operation
and I was really scared about it because
I am terrified of needles. I don’t really
remember much about what happened,
but I know that the first thing I did when
I came round was take a selfie and put it
on Snapchat! I wanted to show everyone
what I’d been through.”
Sammy said: “We were in the recovery
area and she kept asking me and the nurse
where her phone was and we wondered
what she was talking about. When we
gave it to her she lifted her arm straight
up in the air, something she wouldn’t have
been able to do before, and took a selfie!
“I think the painkillers she was on
probably helped, but it was quite amazing
to see.”
Mr Tennant said the operation was
extremely tricky, but a great success: “We
had to very carefully move the blood
vessels and nerves out of the way to find
the extra rib. Even the smallest slip could
have left Charlie paralysed in that arm, or
with reduced circulation.
“Once that was done, we cut the rib away
with its joint and the lump of bone on her
first rib. When the rib was removed, all
of the nerves and blood vessels relaxed
back into their normal place without any
pressure.”
Charlie is now pain-free with no ongoing
symptoms.
She said: “When I look back I can’t really
believe everything that happened, it
doesn’t feel real. Everyone who looked
after me at the hospital was great. I spent
so much time here and everyone from the
surgeons to the nurses on the wards really
looked after me.”
Sammy said: “Me and Charlie’s dad can’t
thank the team enough for what they’ve
done.”