Episodes

Episode 1 - Open Heart Surgery

Francis Wells performs heart surgery on a patient with a leaky mitral valve, which could cause his heart to fail.

Episode 2 - Awake Brain Surgery

Paul Grundy removes a tumour from Peter Chaisit-Charles' left temporal lobe. Peter is awake throughout the operation.

Episode 3 - Keyhole Stomach Repair

Richard Hardwick repairs a hernia on Susan Hyde's stomach through just five small incisions in her abdomen.

Episode 4 - Pituitary Tumour Removal

Nick Thomas removes a tumour from a patient's pituitary. It has been secreting growth hormones that have caused her lips to swell and could lead to serious heart problems.

Episode 3 - Keyhole Stomach Repair

Susan Hyde has a hiatus hernia - her stomach protrudes through a hole in her diaphragm up into the bottom of her oesophagus. This causes acid reflux, where digestive juices and food from the stomach travel back up the oesophagus. 

As a result Susan suffers from chronic heartburn, chest pains and severe discomfort when she eats. In the past ten months her symptoms have become unbearable.

Surgeon Richard Hardwick is specialist in keyhole surgery. He makes five small incisions in Susan's abdomen and through these he inserts an endoscopic camera and all the instruments required for the surgery.

He locates the hole in Susan's diaphragm and stitches it back up. Then he takes a section of the upper stomach and wraps it around the bottom of Susan's oesophagus. This creates a new valve that will stop the acid reflux. Finally he withdraws his instruments and stitches up the incisions on Susan's belly.

Credits
for Channel 4
Distributed by Zodiac Entertainment Distribution