Relimb prosthetic reconstruction
Get in touch
Relimb™ was set up in 2018 to provide an amputee reconstruction service for patients based in the UK and abroad. Relimb™ is based at the Royal Free Hospital, London and is part of the private patients’ unit (PPU). At its core, the Relimb™ team consists of two plastic surgeons (Mr Kang and Mr Woollard) who work in close partnership with Professor Munjed Al-Muderis who is based in Sydney, Australia.
Since 2010, Professor Al-Muderis has been a major figure in the field of osseointegration surgery. He is credited with taking a surgical technique that was still considered as experimental and making it routine.
Relimb™ is privileged to be able to work closely with Professor Al-Muderis as part of an international multidisciplinary team. Relimb™ recognises the critical importance of an MDT approach to the treatment of amputees to achieve the very best outcome and we are proud to work with prosthetists, orthotists, physiotherapists, rehabilitation physicians, psychologists, orthopaedic surgeons, engineers and scientists who all contribute equally to achieve our shared aims. These team members are mainly based in the UK and we rely on all of them to support our patients both before and after surgery.
Although the emphasis of Relimb™ is to provide a bespoke DSF service for amputees, we are also able to provide patients with the entire range of surgical interventions needed by amputees. Not all amputees are suitable for or wish to undergo DSF surgery. Nevertheless, many amputees experience problems such as poor socket fitting due to changes in the shape and size of their stumps.
They may also experience problems unique to amputees such as neuroma pain, phantom limb pain or heterotopic ossification. Relimb™ has the surgical expertise to address all of these problems. We use a combination of conventional plastic surgery techniques as well as Targeted Muscle Reinnervation (TMR) surgery and Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interface (RPNI) approaches to deal specifically with nerve-related issues.
Prosthetic reconstruction
For some patients, fitting a prosthetic limb or body part in the traditional way, using a socket (for upper and lower limb amputees) or skin-adhesives (for facial prosthetics), can be just too difficult to manage. These patients may benefit from advances in Prosthetic Reconstruction using a technique known as osseointegration. This is a method whereby a metal implant can be permanently attached to the human skeleton thereby providing the means for allowing an artificial body part (the prosthesis) to be attached more easily to the human body.
Osseointegration involves inserting a metal implant into the bone. It is then fully accepted by the body as part of the bone and this ensures that the implant will not easily loosen and fall out of the bone, over time. Importantly, part of the implant projects through the overlying skin and it is this that provides the means for securing an external prosthesis to the body. Because the implant is permanently fixed to the bone, any prosthesis attached to the implant is also anchored to the bone making it easier to secure the prosthesis.
At the Royal Free Private Patients Unit, our world class plastic surgery team are experienced in inserting osseointegrated implants into the residual bone of both upper and lower limb amputees and patients who have sustained loss of body parts in the head and neck area (e.g. the face). When placing bone-anchors in the lower limb (e.g. femur), the team work closely with orthopaedic surgeons who are also based at the Royal Free.
Relimb are able to offer the following procedures:
Surgery for Relief of Stump Pain
- Pain in the Residual Limb
- Targeted Muscle Reinnervation (TMR)
- Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interface (RPNI)
- Excess Soft Tissue
- Scarring which is Tight, Painful or Dimpled
- Scarring which is Unstable, Insensate and/or Ulcerated
- Bone Related Problems
Self-assessment patient flowchart
To help you decide if you are suitable for one of the treatments offered by Relimb™ it may be helpful to work through our self-assessment check lists and to follow our flowcharts to see if we offer a treatment that will best address your need.
Book an appointment
For more information, a quotation or to book an appointment, please contact our dedicated enquiries team who are available Monday – Friday from 8am – 6pm on 020 7317 7751 or rf-tr.privateenquiries@nhs.net. Alternatively you can follow the link to the Osseointegration query form and one of our experts will be in touch.