Surgeons: A Matter Of Life or Death | Series 4 Preview (5)

The ground-breaking and award-winning series returns with new feature-length episodes, telling the stories of some of the remarkable lifesaving and life-changing operations which take place at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham - one of Britain’s biggest and busiest hospitals.

Each immersive episode follows the surgical teams as they battle to save patients’ lives. With unprecedented access to the 73 theatres on site, the series provides a unique perspective on the cutting-edge techniques and the complex decisions faced by surgeons as they battle daily against a constant risk to life.

In this remarkable first episode, we meet 20-year-old Emma - a student about to undergo groundbreaking surgery that will change the shape of her face forever.

Emma was born with Apert syndrome, a rare, genetic condition that caused her skull to fuse together prematurely, distorting the normal shape of her face. As a result, Emma has a high, broad forehead, prominent eyes and a sunken midface and has lived much of her life feeling ‘different’.

Now surgeon Jaime Grant – the only female surgeon in the country to perform this operation – is going to attempt to create a more balanced face for Emma. Known as the Le Fort III, this is one of the most invasive and challenging surgeries that can be carried out on the face.

Peeling back Emma’s face at the top and bottom, the operation involves chiselling away at Emma’s cheekbones, pulling them forwards, before reattaching her flesh to her skull and fitting an external cage, which will slowly pull the cheek bones further forward over a period of months. If successful, it would be a life-changing transformation for Emma. However, any complications could slice into her brain, leading to death.

In another part of the hospital, Sue is about to undergo another extraordinary operation. Nearly 20 years ago, she underwent surgery for a benign tumour on her spine and lived for nearly two decades believing that she was cured. But then the familiar pain returned and recent scans show that there are not just one, but two tumours growing. Devastatingly, both are highly aggressive and malignant.

The surgeon, Mel Grainger, knows that he will need to do the best he can for Sue. While taking out the masses won’t be a cure, it will prolong Sue’s life and give her the best chance possible of a pain free existence. But it’s a huge procedure and one which is riddled with significant challenges. Can the surgical team remove the massive tumours safely without causing either a life-threatening bleed, or paralysis?

Surgeons: A Matter of Life or Death returns this November on 5.