Pioneering op helps Fiona see the back of daily dislocations

Published on Wednesday 24 December 2008 08:53

IT would happen as she was walking down the street. Or putting on her coat. Or getting out of bed.

By the age of 20, Fiona Kennedy was dislocating joints – elbows, knees, ankles, shoulders, toes, ribs and fingers – 1000 times a year. The chartered accountant from Roseburn was so used to it happening, she became well-practised in popping the joint back into place herself, even in public.

But the sickening clunk only relieved the extreme agony. "I was in constant pain," she admits. "It's not like in films."

She was suffering from a severe form of Ehlers Danlos Syndrome – she believes there are less than 30 other such cases worldwide – a condition which causes the connective tissue in joints to loosen.

Now 27, Fiona is enjoying her first few weeks without pain – or dislocations – thanks to pioneering work by surgeon Gordon Mackay. Five weeks ago he carried out the last of ten operations, which began in March 2007, using techniques he perfected while working on injured sports stars.

Mr Mackay, one of the co-founders of the SPACE Clinic on Dalry Road along with former rugby star Gregor Townsend, explains: "We used keyhole surgery so that we could focus on the stretched tissue, which we were able to tighten."

The techniques were perfected on athletes such as rugby players. "For instance there are at least nine Scotland rugby players who have had the same procedure on their shoulder as Fiona," he says.

"We believe Fiona is the first person who has been treated for this in this way worldwide."

For Fiona it has, so far, proved a complete cure from a condition which first surfaced when she was 14. Stepping out of a car, she dislocated her kneecap. "I was in plaster for a couple of weeks but I just thought it was one of those things."

She put it down to a growing pains problems but over the next few years pain spread through her body, affected areas such as her shoulders and legs.

When she was 20, the condition took a turn for the worse and the mass dislocations began – she once had 18 shoulder dislocations in one day. But Fiona refused to let the pain get the better of her, although she took no painkillers.

"I never let it get in the way of my life. I just thought there's no point in sulking about it," she says.

She had "trailed around umpteen doctors" but failed to get diagnosis until two years ago when she visited a dermatologist at the ERI after an allergic reaction to an ice gel. "I told him that was the least of my worries and when I explained, he said: 'That sounds like Ehlers Danlos'."

Even then there was little most of the medical profession believed they could do, but Fiona was determined to get some kind of treatment. Eventually she was put in touch with Gordon through the Ross Hall Hospital in Glasgow, where the operations took place.

Now Fiona is just enjoying life without dislocations.

"It's the day-to-day things which make a difference. I used to get up every morning and relocate my shoulders before going to work. I haven't had any dislocations, any pain. It's amazing."

For more information on the condition, log on to www.ednf.org