英國一隻貓咪「小姐」(Missy) 遭嚴重車禍，重傷險不治，幸好遇上一位天才獸醫師，不但救回牠的性命，還發明金屬關節讓牠重新站起來，是獸醫手術史上首例，簡直像真實版《怪醫黑傑克》故事；而英國媒體也稱Missy 是一隻特別的「重金屬機器貓」！
日本漫畫《怪醫黑傑克》中的黑傑克醫師，總能展現神乎奇技的外科手術，醫治一般認為已回天乏術的病人甚至動物，但醫藥費也非常驚人。英國近來發生真實案例，一隻8歲的母貓「小姐」(Missy)因為被車碾過，身受重傷，獨自躲在草叢整整2天，性命垂危。牠的主人路易絲‧莫莉(Louise Morris)努力不懈地尋找，終於找到牠。
「小姐」的傷勢非常嚴重，腿部也多處傷口、脫臼，皮膚與筋肉組織壞死、骨頭外露等等，傷口情形也無法進行截肢手術。主治獸醫博士諾爾(Noel Fitzpatrick)，動員另外2位博士高登(Gordon Blunn)、傑米索亞(Jay Meswania)一起幫忙，用豬膀胱重製及促進皮膚組織生長，遮住外露骨頭。
為了醫治Missy 的腿，諾爾決定試著效彷人類的關節換置手術，為牠發明金屬關節。從未嘗試過的諾爾，縝密地衡量尺寸、研究連結的可能性等，終於特製出一副漂亮、完美的金屬膝關節，並小心地完成手術，這也成了獸醫手術史上首例！
圖：Missy身上的特製金屬關節。(若無法觀看「金屬機器貓」可詳見→http://www.nownews.com/2010/01/25/11507-2562557.htm)
諾爾說，效仿人類的人工膝關節換置手術，要做到能走、能跑已經不容易，但貓咪還有跳躍的需求，所以花了非常多心力研究。終於，在Missy 經歷12週痛苦的療程後已經出院，不但能完全站立，若順利復健，有望能恢復正常跑跳。
只不過，貓主人路易絲現在必須面對一筆可觀的醫藥費帳單；但她認為，Missy 是最重要、最寶貝的家人，能撿回一命已經是喜出望外，此後願意爲牠付出一切，給牠最好的生活品質；還誇讚諾爾是個天才獸醫！
Vets found her close to death after she was run over by a car, but she made a recovery after undergoing pioneering new surgery to rebuild her limbs and fit a specially-made metal joint.
The eight-year-old family pet had been lying injured in a bush for two days with one hind leg broken in eight places and the other with a completely dislocated knee before she was found by her owners.
“I heard a tiny little cry coming from the bush and I knew she was calling me," said owner Louise Morris from Petworth, West Sussex.
Dr Noel Fitzpatrick, the vet who performed the operation at his clinic in Guildford, said: "It was a case of putting Missy to sleep forever or developing an artificial knee, which had never been done before. Amputation was not an option since the other hind leg was broken in eight places."
The skin and tendons at the back of her other foot had died due to crushing of the blood supply and the tissue had all fallen off, leaving raw bone exposed.
In order to regrow tissue and cover the bone, a collagen mesh made out of pig’s bladder was used. The various broken bones were then placed in a scaffolding of pins called a SPIDER (Secured Pin Intramedullary Dorsal Epoxy Resin Frame) until the bone and tissue healed.
The new total knee replacement implant was designed by Dr Fitzpatrick, Professor Gordon Blunn and Mr Jay Meswania of OrthoFitz Implants. It is made of two parts which are linked together with a hinged mechanism so that the knee ligaments – which had all been shredded – would no longer be required and the knee could no longer dislocate.
Uniquely, the implant was custom-designed based on a scan of Missy’s knee and exactly fitted Missy’s measurements, both in terms of the size of her bones and the range of motion of her knee joint. The three-inch long implant is made out of stainless steel and is bonded to the thigh bone and the shin bone using cement.
Dr Fitzpatrick added: “The most difficult thing about the operation was miniaturising the implants and matching the hinge motion to allow walking, running and jumping, which cats do a lot of. A human patient with a knee replacement would probably walk and maybe even run but would rarely expect to jump.”
The operation took two-and-a-half hours to cut the old damaged knee out and replace it with the new implants.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7068187/Missy-the-cat-worlds-first-feline-recipient-of-artificial-knee.html
