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lchimi10
Question:
Anyone heard of TOPAZ surgery for tendinopathies?
Hiya,
Im just looking for some info on topaz surgery for tendinopathies? Basically a friend of mine had been at a lecture and it had sounded quite interesting. Unfortunately Ive not been able to fnd any info on it to date, so if anyones heard of it please point me in the right direction......Im even starting to wonder if ive even got the name of the procedure correct.
Thanks in advance
Asked by lchimi10 - 5 answers - 35 weeks 5 days ago
jusrockinout
is TOPAZ an acronym for something?
Submitted 35 weeks 4 days ago by jusrockinoutbahamasboy1975
Hello,
Never heard of it i am afraid. However, there is a really good product out there at the moment which is very good for tendon problems. It is like an ice bath but uses a refigeration unit to chill the water down to 2 degrees! The Welsh Rugby Team have one amongst others and love it. There is a thing on youtube about it - if you type in welsh rugby team on youtube. Very interesting.
Submitted 35 weeks 4 days ago by bahamasboy1975lchimi10
Im afraid Ive not been able to find out what the TOPAZ stands for yet, but will let you know if I do. Thanks for your help anyway.
Submitted 34 weeks 5 days ago by lchimi10physioroute
The TOPAZ MicroDebrider is a wand-like device about the diameter of a pencil tip. Through a small incision, over the region of tendon insertion, the surgeon applies the device to the "problem tendon for multiple 500 millisecond intervals of treatment". It combines a low temperature radiofrequency with a saline solution, then a "charged" gas is formed at the tip of the "wand" and is directed into and through the damaged tissues. According to a couple of research articles it takes about 20 min, and the individual wears a boot for up to 10 days. From the information i've found, and from working in the NHS it is mainly in america, although there may be some surgeons doing this privetly - i'd be interested to find out more as the theory behind causing micro damage theorectically can me done with physio or exercise!
Submitted 34 weeks 4 days ago by physioroutelchimi10
Physioroute thats exactly what I think my friend was talking about. She was at a lecture done by a surgeon that has started doing it via his private sports injury clinic. the reason I was interested in it was that he had apparently said that he'd use it on patients who hadnt improved after 3 months.
Personally I thought it was a bit soon as I would generally expect patient to take approx 3-6months with eccentric exercise before classifying that as a failure. As one of the seniors at my work is doing a mini audit on the effect of GTN patches for achilles tendinopathies I would be interested in how TOPAZ compares to the less invasive treatments.
Will let you know if I come across any interesting papers.
Thanks again!!!
Submitted 34 weeks 2 days ago by lchimi10