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Surgeons: At the Edge of Life

Documentaries

Factual: Health & Wellbeing

Meet the world-leading surgeons pushing science - and the human body - to its limits.

Transforming patients' lives, at the cutting edge of medicine. Meet the world-leading surgeons pushing science - and the human body - to its limits.

Series  3

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Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

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Shaun Dooley

Jo Hughes

Ros Ponder

Richard Bond

Daniel Barry

Alex Kohler

Isabelle Burn

Nick Shaw

Rohan Latchman

Emily Bunt

Dragonfly Film and Television

Daniel Goldthorp

Barrie Pease

Surgeons: At the Edge of Life: Series  3: Episode 4

Episode 4

BBC Two - Surgeons: At the Edge of Life, Series  3, Episode 4

Surgeons attempt to replace the biggest blood vessel in the body with a synthetic tube.

Surgeons at Addenbrooke’s and Royal Papworth hospitals face a dilemma. Do the high risks of an operation outweigh the risk of not treating their patients' serious conditions?

The third series of this groundbreaking series concludes with operations at neighbouring Addenbrooke’s and Royal Papworth hospitals in Cambridge, where the surgeons have to balance the considerable risks of the procedure against the risks of not treating their patients' conditions at all. 

For cardiothoracic surgeon Ravi De Silva, there is a fine balance when it comes to his 75-year-old patient Maureen. She feels relatively well even though she has an enlarged aorta, the main vessel for carrying oxygenated blood to the body - but it is in danger of bursting. If it does burst, it could be fatal, but the operation to fix it is also extremely high risk. In Ravi’s mind there is a clear choice - the one-off risk of the operation is worth it compared to living with a condition that could be fatal at any time.

At Addenbrooke’s Hospital, consultant surgeon Emmanuel Huguet and his patient, 72-year-old Chris, also face a difficult choice. Chris has a genetic disorder called AFAP, which means she is susceptible to cancer in her digestive system. She has already had a brush with colon cancer that was successfully treated with surgery. Now a polyp has been discovered in her duodenum, the first part of the small intestine, which may turn into cancer. The only way to remove it in Chris’s case is to have a Whipple procedure. It is a complicated and risky operation involving removing the duodenum and several other parts of her digestive system, including part of the pancreas, and then rebuilding her digestive tract. In the end, Chris has decided to take on the high-risk procedure. Having lost both her brother and sister to cancer, she is all too aware what could happen if the polyp turns cancerous. 

Surgeons: At the Edge of Life: Series  3

BBC Two

Knowledge, drama, comedy and the arts for a broad adult audience.

BBC Two is a lively channel of depth and substance, carrying a range of knowledge-building programming complemented by great drama, comedy and arts.

Surgeons perform extraordinarily complex and risky procedures to transform lives.

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Surgeons: At the Edge of Life

Series 3

Episode 4

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