Surgeons: A Matter Of Life Or Death | Preview (Channel 5)

With remarkable access to the University Hospitals Birmingham – one of Britain’s leading NHS trusts - this new series of Surgeons: A Matter of Life or Death features some of the most ground-breaking surgical procedures being performed in the UK.

Going behind closed doors into its 73 theatres, each immersive episode follows surgeons and patients minute by minute in theatre as they battle with the challenges of highly complex cases.

Each life-saving or life-changing operation involves split-second decision-making against a constant risk to life. Tense, dramatic and emotional, this is inside the world of the operating theatre as you have not seen it before.

This week, those facing life or death procedures with the surgical team include 45-year-old Sajid, who has a massive aneurysm just above his heart that could burst at any moment. It’s a life-threatening condition.

If it bursts, he would bleed to death. To make matters worse, the aneurysm has stretched Sajid’s aortic valve, causing blood to flow backwards into his heart. Cardiac surgeon Jorge Mascaro is hopeful he can salvage the valve, but he must stop Sajid’s heart to remove the aneurysm and replace it with a synthetic graft. The operation is high-risk, but it is Jorge’s only option to save Sajid’s life.

Margaret needs an urgent operation to remove a tumour from the lining of her brain. For neurosurgeon David Davies, this surgery is personal. He operated on Margaret a year ago, but the tumour has returned, now more aggressive than before. If left untreated, it will invade Margaret’s brain and could prove fatal.

Using advanced GPS mapping of Margaret’s brain, David hopes to remove the tumour once and for all before it can progress any further. It is a difficult procedure and David must work with extreme precision as the tumour is located on a critical area of the brain controlling movement and speech. Just one millimetre off could result in life-changing damage for Margaret.

In theatre 8, surgeon Haney Youssef is preparing to operate on Joanne to remove widespread cancer from her abdomen. Scans show that it has already spread around her diaphragm, liver, and spleen, but they won’t know the true extent until Joanne is on the operating table.

Haney and his team face a gruelling day in the theatre as they will need to strip the lining of her abdomen, staple off her bowel, and burn the cancer off the surface of the liver. It’s a complex surgical marathon that, hopefully, will give Joanne her life back.

Surgeons: A Matter of Life or Death returns w/c 6th January on Channel 5.