This man can breathe again through the use of 3D printing technology and a good surgeon – Houston Chronicle

GALVESTON Every time Donald Putzia drew in a haggard breath, the left side of his chest wall sagged under the weight of the action, causing him excruciating pain.

The 62-year-old couldnt talk for longer than a sentence. And even then, hed cough, sending him through another painful fight to breathe.

Putzia could not breathe right for more than a year after a cardiac pulmonary bypass surgery. Though that surgery saved his life, it destroyed the mechanics of his chest wall because his sternum did not heal correctly.

I was in so much pain. I couldnt do (cardiac rehabilitation after surgery), Putzia said. Most of the time I had to walk with a walker. I was barely able to move.

He returned to the original cardiac surgeon for repair, but a second surgery did not help. He was told to seek the care of a pain management specialist.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Texas prisons start 3D-denture printing program

Instead, his wife Darla went online and searched chest wall reconstruction and found Dr. Gal Levy, a cardiac and thoracic surgeon at University of Texas-Medical Branch.

By first practicing on an identical 3D replica, Levy reconstructed Putzias chest by correcting three ribs with the help of a plastic surgeon in a third surgery. Levy had used 3D CT scans in surgery planning before, but this was the first time she used a 3D-printed rib cage to pre-place surgical plates days before the patient was in the operating room.

It saved time, which made all the difference in his surgery and eventual recovery.

Chest wall mechanics are really important for everyday breathing and coughing. The way the chest wall works is it has to work together to open up, create a negative pressure to let the chest expand and close down, Levy said. His left side was collapsing in, so every time he tried to take a breath, this lung was getting compressed.

Levy examined Putzias chest using a 3D CT scan, which allowed her to see the severity of his unstable chest. She sent those scans to a third-party vendor to print a replica of the front of Putzias rib cage, which she used to shape the plates it took her two-and-a-half hours.

The plates are straight, so you have to manually bend them around to form the contours. We were able to really take our time to build it, she said.

According to Market Research Future, 3D printed medical devices are typically used by surgeons before to the procedure to reduce error. The technology has been around since the 1990s but is now being widely used in hospitals across the country.

Dr. Terry Clyburn, total joint specialist for orthopedics and sports medicine at Houston Methodist, remembers the beginnings of 3D printed medical technology.

It has taken years to get the 3D technology synced up just right to do the kind of surgery Levy performed, said Clyburn, who uses 3D-printed knee and hip implants for his patients. It took 10 years for Clyburn to start replacing knees with a 3D-printed replica, and he said hes done hundreds since. More recently, he has used 3D hip replicas to aid in hip replacement surgery.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Rice University scientists find way to 3-D print living tissue

The difference now is that CT scans are incredibly precise, so the implants are absolutely to the micrometer perfect, he said.

Using 3D-printed custom implants is actually not much more expensive than the traditional technique of using an off-the-shelf implant, Clyburn said, because theres no inventory.

Since theyre patient-specific, only one model is made. Theres no warehouse to store unused implants, and theres no need to pre-manufacture guides. Each implant is FDA-approved, he added.

Its precision-made for the patient Amazon for knees and hips, he said.

Dr. Levy in Galveston did not replace her patients rib cage with a new one, but she used a 3D-printed replica to mold the plates to his specific ridges and contours before surgery even began.

Rather than completely open his chest cavity, the plastic surgeon made a small dissection, and lifted the muscle above the rib cage. This gave Levy space to find the fallen screws from previous surgeries, place the already-molded plates on the rib bones, insert new screws and sew him back up.

It cut surgery time by half, leaving Putzia under anesthesia for three hours. This time-saving effort ultimately resulted in a faster recovery time, Levy said.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Plastic waste provides chance for startup re:3D to build business, help save the world

3D printing is not new, but how we incorporate it into our day-to-day surgery is about learning to embrace the technology we have, she said. Surgeons that work with bone a lot have learned to use this technology to help rebuild.

Putzia said he has felt zero pain since his October surgery. He feels grateful Levy took his case when other doctors said he was out of surgical options.

I was totally amazed at several things, but especially how fast the pain disappeared, Putzia said. I was having a coughing spell ever since I had the open heart surgery, and she got rid of the coughing. The pain in the muscles - it was just instant relief all the way around.

julie.garcia@chron.com

Twitter.com/reporterjulie

Renew Houston: Get the latest wellness news delivered to your inbox

Julie Garcia is a features reporter at the Houston Chronicle focusing on health, fitness and outdoors.

Originally from Port Neches, Texas, Julie has worked as a community journalist in South Texas cities since 2010. In Beaumont and Port Arthur, she wrote feature stories and breaking news before moving to the Victoria Advocate as an assistant sports editor writing about high school sports and outdoors. Most recently, she worked at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in areas spanning city and county government, new business, affordable housing, breaking news and health care. In 2015, she covered the Memorial Day floods in Wimberley, Texas, and in 2017, she was a lead reporter covering Hurricane Harvey as it affected the Coastal Bend region. These experiences have pushed her toward exploring environmental journalism and climate change.

A textbook water sign, Julie is an advocate for people feeling their feelings and wants to help people tell their stories. When not at work, shes probably riding around in her Jeep looking at all the tall buildings.

Have a story to tell? Email her at Julie.Garcia@chron.com. For everything else, check her on Twitter @reporterjulie.

Read more from the original source:
This man can breathe again through the use of 3D printing technology and a good surgeon - Houston Chronicle