Before beginning Dr. Belthur, who stood over Colton on the table, called a “time out.” “I called a time out,” he said “to run through the check list for the surgery. The whole team listens and we ask for two patient identifiers and we describe the operation we are about to perform.”
They will be doing a varus derotational osteotomy on both of Colton’s hips. The surgery will be a 4- to 5-hour operation.
After time out, the team swings into action. As we saw earlier, Dr. Belthur conducts his operating room like a master.
Everyone is in constant, but focused and coordinated motion. Little conversation, lots of concentrated work. It reminds us of a ballet or an orchestra. Only thing missing is the music. Which, for Colton, frankly, can be nothing other than “Should’ve Been a Cowboy”.
Dr. Belthur’s Fellow in this surgery was Dr. Mohammed Waseemuddin.
Varus derotational osteotomy of the femur is a common type of surgery for patients with more severe forms of CP and is not a risky type of surgery.
Its purpose is to correct a deformity of the hip where the angle between the head and neck of the femur and its shaft is greater than is healthy for the patient—usually above 135 degrees.
That causes an inward twisting of the thigh bone (femoral anteversion) and, eventually, hip dislocations.
Dr. Belthur and his team are going to put Colton’s hip back in its socket and shorten his bone to match his shortened muscles.
The first incisions were made along the outside of both hips and were several inches long. They went on to cut the thighbone (femur) and repositioned Colton’s hip ball into the socket.
Drs. Belthur and Waseemuddin added plates and screws to hold the bones together. The plates, which are implanted will not be visible.
When Drs. Belthur and Waseemuddin closed, they did so with sutures below the skin (Colton, therefore, will not need to have the stitches removed) and everything was sealed using skin glue (DERMABOND from Johnson & Johnson) which helps reduce the risk of infection and allows the wounds to be cleaned regularly.
Colton’s mom, Christine, was waiting for him when his surgery was done.
The Dunton family, we could tell when we met them are really special. In the recovery room, Christine was a constant, nurturing presence. On one hand being a family with a child with CP is like any family. The basics are as important as ever. But it is also unlike other families because a CP child is also a special needs child—needs that continue into adulthood.
We could not help but bond with Colton, Tom and Christine when we saw how much love was in that room.
All in all, seeing Colton, his family and Dr. Waseemuddin was a fitting way to end our visit at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
