A BASINGSTOKE surgeon has created a ground-breaking research tool which will help benefit future patients and fellow medics.

David Elson, an orthopaedic surgeon specialising in knees, is the brains behind the first dedicated knee osteotomy registry.

The UK Knee Osteotomy Registry, of UKKOR, will provide a record of patients who have had the procedure – an alternative to total knee replacement – and how successful it has been for them.

Mr Elson, who is based at Basingstoke hospital, explained: “When patients ask us how effective the operation is, we want to be able to give them the best possible answer.

“Each patient is different, but by collecting patient outcomes from different age groups, we can give a more informed answer.”

The registry will also benefit surgeons, and should improve understanding of knee osteotomy performance and longevity.

Mr Elson said: “We will look at outcomes to tailor what we do. It is something which will evolve, and the more information which is collected, the better informed we will be.”

Surgeons from across the country are being asked to record data including patient age, the success of the operations and long-term effects and successes.

As previously reported in The Gazette, Basingstoke has been at the forefront of osteotomies for years.

The procedure, in which a bone is surgically cut to realign the bone, fell out of favour in the UK several decades ago because of unsophisticated instrumentation and slow recovery time.

But in Germany, great strides were made in honing the procedure, and seven years ago, interest was rekindled after a team from Basingstoke began looking into these new techniques.

Since then, an internationally-renowned master class has been held each year at Basingstoke hospital, and patients from all over the UK are now referred to the hospital for an osteotomy.

The knee osteotomy registry can be accessed at ukkor.co.uk.