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MistakesEven the surgeon admit that there can be complications. We know that meningitis causes the cochlea to make extra bone, so bone can grow round an implant once it has been inserted. Not only does this bone block the electrical signals, but it also acts as a conductor for the implant's electrical signal, and stimulates the facial nerve which makes the face twitch if there is a loud noise. Infections sometimes get in, and in 1-2% of cases the device breaks down or is "defective", needing a second operation for a replacement. (1-2% doesn't sound very high, but it's a nuisance if it's your implant that breaks or was badly made. Then it's 100% in your case!). New implant teams make the most mistakes, especially in the first 10 to 20 operations. Obviously it's best to be operated on by an experienced team. But who did they practise on....? Money is important here. Each one costs about £28,000 in the first year, and health authorities have to be persuaded to pay for these. Hospitals like to have implant teams because they are high status. Britain really only needs a maximum of 10 teams in the country, to deal with the 100 or so people each year who have the implants. There are already 15 centres, all competing for business. This has some negative effects: teams don't get enough "practice"; patients go to less skilled teams because there is one locally, and the experts are too far away; more people are put forward for the operation because the teams want to do implants. |
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