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Amputation-fear teen 'pain-free' after operation

News imageNewcastle Hospitals/PA Media Dr Sachin Rastogi stands next to the hospital bed where Ralph Seed is lying. The medic has neat short hair and a short beard, both of which are black and grey. He is leaning against the raised side of the bed with his top half visible. He is wearing a blue polo t-shirt and has a lanyard and a phone or similar device attached just above his security pass. Ralph is smiling broadly. He has short, neat brown hair and wears a white hospital nightgown with a pattern of small dark diamond shapes. Above the pillows is a laminated piece of paper with Bed 4 printed in large black letters.Newcastle Hospitals/PA Media
The results of the procedure for Ralph Seed were immediate, Dr Sachin Rastogi said

A teenager who suffered such agony from a medical condition in his foot that he considered amputation as a cure says a pioneering procedure has left him pain-free "for the first time in five years".

Ralph Seed, 18, from Washington near Sunderland, had complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), which meant the slightest touch was excruciating and he was unable to walk.

But after surgeons at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary fitted a pain-relieving implant to his spinal cord, Ralph said he was at last able to plan a future for himself.

The implanted device, which in the UK had previously only been used on adults, uses stimulation to disrupt erroneous signals travelling to the brain.

A tiny battery under the skin provides a small electrical pulse to the spinal cord to block pain signals.

Experts described it as a "closed loop", meaning it reacts to the patient's movement and uses the body's own signals to adapt and adjust stimulation.

The implants can be used to treat CRPS, which causes nerves to incorrectly send severe pain signals.

'Such resilience'

Following his treatment, Ralph said: "My mum was emotional and so was I. I'm hoping the implant is going to help me get my life back again.

"I kept going, but I couldn't plan before as I had to think about how I would cope with pain.

"Now I am planning my future; working with cars and going on a road trip with my family."

Mum Tara Walton said: "It's really so special to see him smiling again.

"Ralph has been through so much, but throughout he's had a great attitude.

"He's been so determined to keep going, showing such resilience passing his GCSEs and going to college."

News imageNewcastle Hospitals/PA Media Neurosurgeon Akbar Hussain (left) and Dr Sachin Rastogi operating on Ralph Seed. They are both wearing blue surgical gowns and facemasks.Newcastle Hospitals/PA Media
In the UK, the pain-relieving implants had previously only been given to adults

Dr Sachin Rastogi, an anaesthetist who specialises in pain, joined neurosurgeon Akbar Hussain to fit the implant.

Dr Rastogi said the results of the procedure were "immediate and unprecedented".

"Seeing the impact of being pain-free for Ralph is simply one of the most moving things I have experienced in my career.

Ralph will continue to receive physical rehabilitation, psychological support and sleep monitoring.

He said: "We want other families who may be going through chronic pain to know about this condition and that there is treatment for it.

"I'm so thankful to everyone for what they have done for me."

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