Sask. amputee promotes unique procedure after it allows him to walk without pain

Ron Patterson and his wife Shelly are grateful that his Osseointegration procedure worked so well. (David Prisciak)

REGINA -

A Saskatchewan man is promoting a rare medical procedure that allows him to walk without pain, despite his below the knee amputation.

Osseointegration is a procedure where a titanium rod is anchored into the bone of the amputated limb as an extension of that limb, negating the need for a socket prosthetic.

“It just gives you your quality of life back,” said Ron Patterson, a below the right knee amputee.

Ron broke his ankle while climbing out of a piece of equipment in 1978. Due to improper medical treatment, he developed Gangrene and his right leg below the knee had to be amputated.

He lived with a regular socket prosthetic for over 30 years. But due to a condition called Nuroma, the socket prosthetic became just too painful to use.

“Everything was good, and then just one day, they start growing inside your leg,” he explained. “When you cut a nerve cut always try to attach itself again and then heal. The ones that couldn’t, they form a ball on the end. And they become very painful. It got to the point where I could barely use my leg.”

Ron had to be medicated because of the constant pain due to the Nuromas. He was prescribed Morphine. When his body grew accustomed to it, he was prescribed Fentanyl. It would be three years before he discovered Osseointegration.

“That changed my life right there as soon as I got my leg," he said. "It just gives you your quality of life back, that’s all I can tell you.”

The procedure has been around since the late 1990s. First practiced in Sweden, and further improved in Australia. It is currently only performed in Quebec.

Dr. Robert Turcotte is the chair of Surgical Oncology at the McGill University Health Centre. He assisted the movement to bring Osseointegration to Canada and performed Ron’s surgery.

“It’s not something that’s easy to live with, when you’re an amputee,” Dr. Turcotte said. “But this provides additional help, to your comfort to your limb control, to your feeling with the limb and the environment.”

Because the rod isn’t weight bearing on the skin and muscle of the leg, Ron’s Nuroma’s aren’t affected. The procedure has completely changed his life. Off medication, he looks forward to enjoying all the things he missed during his long ordeal.

“Now I’m off of everything and life is great, life is great,” he said. “That’s all I can say, I’m just so happy to be off of it. With everything that turned out, the surgery and everything, I wish I could’ve had it done 20 years ago.”

Turcotte explained that Ron was one of the most successful Osseointegration cases due to his specific circumstances, seeing as the procedure allowed him to be free of his pain. But because the procedure is relatively new, there must be caution in promoting it and much care taken when selecting candidates to minimize possible complications.

“It’s not for everyone,” he said. “But you know at five years, 95 per cent of the patients are doing very well and retain their implant. This is quite encouraging, but the long term, 10, 20, 30 years there’s more unknown there. So that is why we need to be careful in promoting this technology.”

Due to these percentages, he is confident that work will move forward with the procedure and it will continue to be improved.

“There will be improvements in the design of the implant, in the surgical technique and better understanding of how to prevent complications,” he said.

“In the coming years, we will be moving to immediate Osseointegration. Moving from those who cannot stand a socket to those who are likely to do better with immediate Osseointegration. So, I think this is the next step toward the bionic limb.”

Ron’s wife Shelly said she’s so happy that Ron’s ordeal is finally over.

“He’s so much happier now,” she said. “People take for granted simple things like going for a walk. We never did that, like even walking through a park. We were in our 20s when this happened, and we couldn’t even do things like that.”

It’s because of this success that Ron wants to share his story. He wants to inform people about Osseointegration in the hopes that he may help others that are currently suffering like he did.

“Because I think there’s people out there that just don’t know about this, I didn’t know about it. And when I found out and asked the doctor, I was just so happy, so happy they could do something for me,” he said.

Ron wishes to see the availability of the procedure expand so that amputees that can benefit from it are able to receive it in Saskatchewan.

“If there’s people here, that think there’s no hope,” he said, “There is hope.”