Accident Victim Fitted With 'Bionic Bottom'

Wednesday, November 18, 2009



This article on Fox news is about a man who was in a motor cycle accident that seriously injured his abdomen and he was repaired by having a colostomy procedure and the use of a colostomy bag to collect his bowel movements. The accident victim named Galvin, lives in England and is only 55 and was self-conscious and did not like having to manage emptying and changing the bag. In this article it referenced the New York Daily News as saying the man had "an operation called the Electrically Stimulated Gracilis Neosphincter, which ultimately gave him a "pacemaker-like stimulator to activate the opening and closing of (his) sphincter muscle for bowel movements." Also he is known as the "the man with the bionic bottom" by the British press as reported in this article.


I did not believe this story when I first read it as I had heard of many new approaches to colostomy care and have never heard of this as an alternative option. Being in the healthcare field I need to check this out in case I ever have to consider it a viable option. I am very happy for this gentleman in his efforts for achieving a better quality of life and many more like him could benefit. I had an uncle who had a colostomy for a while and he was a different man. Until his was reversed we barely saw him, after he was back to normal he was his old humorous self again.



Since I thought this might be a bogus article my first reaction was to dismiss the idea that it could be true except in this article it also referenced the ABC news report on the doctor who invented the surgical procedure. It describes how the technique is performed where the doctor "cut Galvin’s leg muscle from the groin to the knee and wrapped it around Galvin’s anus. A device was also implanted - complete with a remote control – and that controls the muscles." "There are lots of people in the same situation as me that potentially this operation could help," Galvin said. "It changed my life." After reading about the remote control I started thinking of all the worst-case scenarios that might happen to the remote control. Apparently when this guy wants to go to the bathroom he pushes a button on the remote control. What would happen if he lost his remote, or the batteries went dead or a toddler finds it, or he forgot to lock it and he rolled over on it in his pocket? And what if he is in an athletic event and he pulls a muscle?


I see great advances in technology all the time in healthcare and should not be surprised by this device, but I admit that I am mildly shocked by this invention. Who would have ever thought that the remote could be used for more than just the garage door opener and the entertainment set?