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Surgeons: At the Edge of Life

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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 4

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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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Surgeons: At The Edge of Life

Luke Korzun Martin

Emily Bunt

Louisa Hatfield

Daniel Barry

Richard Bond

Jo Hughes

Ros Ponder

Dragonfly Film and Television

Surgeons: At the Edge of Life: Series 4: Episode 1

Episode 1

BBC Two - Surgeons: At the Edge of Life, Series 4, Episode 1

Surgeons remove a face and neck tumour and repair a young patient’s aorta.

Operations where even a small mistake is catastrophic. Surgeons at Addenbrooke’s and Royal Papworth hospitals remove a life-threatening tumour and repair a young patient’s aorta.

Addenbrooke’s and Royal Papworth hospitals in Cambridge are renowned for carrying out some of the most challenging operations in the country. At both centres, surgeons undertake procedures where their technical skills are crucial because even the smallest slip of the blade could result in disaster.

Addenbrooke’s head and neck surgeon Ekpemi Irune takes on a challenging case where a cancerous tumour in the face and neck is growing so fast, it’s threatening her patient’s life. It’s such an aggressive tumour that Chris, a 60-year-old retired gardener, must have surgery as soon as possible. But removing this large tumour will mean a team of plastic surgeons need to do a complex reconstruction of the face and neck. 

Meanwhile, at Royal Papworth, consultant surgeon Ravi De Silva also has a patient with a life-threatening illness. 33-year-old Verity has a genetic condition called Turner syndrome, which has caused her aorta to become enlarged and in danger of fatally rupturing. Ravi needs to replace a diseased section of the aorta with a synthetic one. But he wants to try and save her aortic valve rather than put in a mechanical one that would require Verity to be on blood thinners the rest of her life. But this means a much more complex procedure.

Surgeons: At the Edge of Life: Series 4

BBC Two

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Surgeons at Royal Papworth and Addenbrooke’s perform complex procedures to save lives.

Surgeons at Royal Papworth and Addenbrooke’s hospitals perform complex procedures to save lives. But this comes with great risk and the surgeons bear the ultimate responsibility.

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Surgeons: At the Edge of Life

Series 4

Episode 1

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