Mid Yorkshire Trust performs life changing ankle surgery

Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust is the only Trust in the region performing pioneering MaioRegen patch ankle surgery with life changing results for patients.

Patients like Karen Eckstein, 59, from Esholt in Bradford, who was a keen ski tourer, hiker, runner, and horse rider, until she started to experience an increasing amount of pain in her right ankle.

Because of the pain, in 2015 she stopped running and hiking and her activity levels reduced.

She said: “I put on a lot of weight and began to resign myself to becoming an overweight middle-aged woman, instead of the fit athlete I used to be.”

Karen started to fear that her ski tour days were behind her, but thanks to surgery, she’s now back on the slopes, skiing uphill, and staying in remote mountain huts for a few days at a time. Something she’d started to think would never be possible again.

Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust performs around ten to 12 MaioRegen surgeries per year, receiving referrals from other Trusts in the surrounding area.

Prior to Karen having her operation at the Trust in October 2023, she had two microfracture surgeries to see if they would help, however, they didn’t work.

She said: “At this stage I was struggling to walk round my local supermarket.”

Life was tough and she started to accept that her active lifestyle was over. That is until she was seen by Mr Jason Eyre, Orthopaedic Surgeon at Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust.

Jason said: “I suggested Karen try the pioneering MaioRegen patch ankle surgery, as I was convinced it could make a difference for her. Despite her knowing the chances of success were not guaranteed, Karen agreed to give it a try.”

The surgery uses MaioRegen equine patches (made with horse collagen) that fit into the ankle to reduce or remove pain.

The surgeon removes the damaged tissue first then inserts the equine patch, which is flexible and porous, into the ankle.

Karen’s surgery went well, and during her recovery she spent two weeks resting, limiting her mobility, and elevating her leg, before starting a rehabilitation exercise programme.

She said: “It was ‘tea, toast and toilet for two weeks’ before I started my rehab. I was in a lot of pain doing the exercises and I would want to pass out or throw up, but I kept at it.”

Karen kept herself motivated by setting goals, such as being able to ski tour in the Arctic in April and hike the Tour de Mont Blanc in September.

It’s hard to believe that eight months on from surgery, she is now slowly building up her ski strength, and was able to ski for six hours on icy and powder runs in March, ahead of her schedule.

Karen said: “I cried tears of joy when I was back in the serenity of the wilds. I couldn’t ski every day, but I could ski one day and then rest the next. I can’t believe it, and now I’m training for the Tour de Mont Blanc in September.”

She is very pleased with the care she received at Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust too.

Karen said: “I’ve been so impressed throughout the whole process, from the admin team keeping me updated about appointments, to the hospital staff at Pontefract where I had my operation, to the physio team at Pinderfields who have pushed me on my road to recovery and celebrated each step of improvement with me.

“I hear so many people complain about the NHS, but the experience I have had throughout has been second to none. I have felt cared for, that everyone was rooting for me, and my journey has been a real team effort.”