A SATELLITE navigation expert has been raced back to work after receiving cutting edge back surgery which used the military guidance systems he is surrounded by daily.

Alan Jones, of Conway Road in Eldene, had struggled with chronic back pain for 14 months before his surgery at BMI The Ridgeway Hospital in Wroughton on February 9.

Within six weeks the helicopter expert was back in work at Aviation Training International, where he trains technicians to use similar systems to those which created a road map of his spine for consultant surgeon Neil Orpen.

“I am not going to say it was pain-free because it certainly wasn’t, but things improved quickly after the operation,” said the 61-year-old. “I was driving in less than three weeks and back at work in six.

“When I think of the pain I’d suffered in the year before my operation I can’t believe how my life has changed since then.

“I feel I am now back in control of my life and able to get on with living. I owe a big thank you to Mr Orpen and his team for making that happen.”

Alan has 25 years of experience with the Royal Air Force behind him and now trains the Army’s Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in how to maintain and fix avionics systems on Apache helicopters.

These avionics include GPS technology to guide pilots, which is a similar kind to that technology used by Mr Orpen in his efforts to fix Alan’s back and repair a damaged disc.

Mr Orpen said: “We now have a system than can provide a road map to the spine, allowing me to carry out keyhole instead of opening up the back to gain access to the disc.”

A CT scan of the patients back is fed into a computer to create a virtual 3D model of the affected area.

This gives the surgeon a digital road map which enables them to negotiate their instruments through complex passages while avoiding delicate nerves and vessels around the spine.

The trapped nerves which had been causing the problem were then released and the disc made stable with a bone graft and titanium screws.

“The difference between this procedure and the more common operation for fusing a disc is immense and the patient benefits both from less post-operative pain and a much quicker recovery period,” said Mr Orpen.

“It is my procedure of choice for cases like this and I am presently training other consultants to be able to carry out similar operations.”

Alan was covered by medical insurance provided by his employers.

He was able to leave the hospital after just an overnight stay and was back at work exactly six weeks after his operation.